A Senior member of the PLO has come out and said that the Palestinians would cease to have relations with the US if the threat to close its Washington D.C offices materialises. Donald Trump has often been described as the man who has mastered the "Art of the Deal" and no bigger deal, possibly in the history of modern mankind could ever be struck than being able to bring a peaceful end to the decades-old conflict between the Israeli's and the Palestinians. It is thought that the threat from the US to close the offices of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, is possibly a tactic being used by Donald Trump to try to gain some leverage over the Palestinian side of the conversation.
First time in 3 decades this has happened
According to the Daily Mail, the PLO must obtain permission every six months in order to keep their offices open, and this is thought to be the first time since the 1980's such a threat has been issued. The PLO opened its offices in Washington DC in 1994 and is seen as being the authority which is representative of all Palestinians. Donald Trump has a 90-day period in which to avert the closure of the office if it is felt that sufficient progress in talks has been made. On Twitter, the PLO General Secretary Saeb Erekat fired back at this threat calling the move "unacceptable." He also accused Israel of applying pressure on the US.
Israel was quick to distance themselves from such claims, saying that the issue was a "matter of US law."
A long, bloody conflict with no clear answers
The Israel Palestine saga is a conflict which has shown little signs of a peaceful outcome over the years. Many periods of fighting have led to previous attempts at conflict resolution which so often have ended in a frustrating stalemate.
The main phase of the conflict has been ongoing since 1964, with the most recent large-scale conflict taking place back in 2014. The 2014 conflict was sparked by the kidnap and murder of 3 Israeli teenagers by members of Hamas, which in response led to Israel conducting Operation Protective Edge. This resulted in a conflict in which many casualties were sustained on the Palestinian side, many of which are believed by the international community to have been civilians.
The conflict also saw rockets fired from the Gaza strip into neighbourhoods in Israel, and there have been a string of terror attacks inside Israel since the conflict which has resulted in several deaths.
Since the 2014 conflict, the already abysmal relationship between the two opposing factions has taken an even sharper plunge, and talks of a peace deal have completely broken down. Donald Trump famously said that he could possibly bring about a resolution to one of the longest-running battles the modern world has ever seen. This latest move by the US could go either way, an unpredictable situation such as the Israel Palestine conflict has not resulted in the coolest of heads prevailing over the years and it is not known how the Palestinians will act in reaction to this move. Only time will tell if this move will have any success in speeding the slow grinding peace process.
