Palestinian President Abbas threatens to pull plug on Oslo accords at UN

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The Palestinian flag was raised at the United Nations for the first time
President Abbas called on the UN to give Palestine full membership
He warned that he would walk away from current agreements with Israel
Abbas, 80, said 'it was a proud day' to see the Palestinian flag at the UN

Published: 15:02 EST, 30 September 2015 | Updated: 18:16 EST, 30 September 2015

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declared that he is no longer bound by agreements signed with Israel moments before he raised his nation's flag at the United Nations in New York.

In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly, he said that as Israel's refusal to commit to the agreements signed 'render us an authority without real powers'.

Mr Abbas added: 'We cannot continue to be bound by these agreements.'

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President Mahmoud Abbas, pictured with a Palestinian flag shortly before it was raised at the UN in New York

It was the first time the Palestinian flag, pictured, was raised at the headquarters of the United Nations

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, right, pictured with President Abbas, left, at today's special ceremony

It was Mr Abbas's most serious warning yet to Israel that he might walk away from engagement with Israel and dissolve the Palestinian Authority.

He stopped short of accompanying his threat with a deadline.

He had threatened to drop a 'bombshell' in the speech - prompting speculation he would sever ties with Israel over its settlement expansion and other hardline policies.

Mr Abbas's tough talk could be an attempt to mask his political weakness.

Hopes of setting up a Palestinian state have been derailed, and there are calls for the leader to resign and dissolve the Palestinian Authority.

Without a specific deadline for taking those steps, Mr Abbas left himself room for diplomatic manoeuvre to refocus the attention of the international community on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The flag was raised after a vote at the United Nations which was opposed by the United States, Australia and Israel with five other states

In his speech, he accused Israel of 'repeated, systematic incursions upon Al-Aqsa Mosque aimed at imposing a new reality,' warning that such actions create an explosive situation.

'It is no longer useful to waste time in negotiations for the sake of negotiations; what is required is to mobilise international efforts to oversee an end to the occupation in line with the resolutions of international legitimacy,' he said.

'Until then, I call upon the United Nations to provide international protection for the Palestinian people in accordance with international humanitarian law.'

In a harshly worded essay ahead of his address to the United Nations, the Palestinian president said a new multilateral approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is needed since direct negotiations with Israel have repeatedly failed.

Mahmoud Abbas said the model should be based instead on the type of negotiations that took place in the Balkans, Libya and Iran.

Several rounds negotiations, often with American mediation, have failed reach a peace accord and Abbas shunned renewing them.

'The peace process must be multilateral. The same pattern of negotiations imposed for years will not work because Israel is the occupying power,' he wrote.

'We cannot directly negotiate with a power that has this level of control and exhibits such contempt for the rights and existence of our people.'

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Abbas presided over the packed ceremony in the rose garden after the Palestinian leader launched a searing attack at the General Assembly on Israel's continued occupation.

'In this historical moment, I say to my people everywhere: raise the flag of Palestinians very high because it is the symbol of our identity,' the 80-year-old Abbas told the crowd. 'It is a proud day.'

Israel and the United States have dismissed the move as a symbolic gesture that would not serve the cause of peace. But Ban said symbols were 'important' and could lead to action.

'Now is the time to restore confidence by both Israelis and Palestinians for a peaceful settlement and, at last, the realization of two states for two peoples,' he said.

The red, black, white and green Palestinian flag was then hoisted under dark clouds that threatened rain. The crowd broke out into cheers when it started to flutter in the gentle breeze.

Dozens of people gathered in the West Bank town of Ramallah to watch the flag-raising by TV link. When the small crowd saw Abbas on the screen, they stood cheering and then fell silent to hear him.

The General Assembly voted September 10 to allow the flags of Palestine and the Vatican - both have observer status - to be raised at the world body alongside those of member states.

The resolution was backed by 119 countries, with 45 abstentions and eight votes against, including Australia, Israel and the United States.

Abbas used his speech Wednesday at the General Assembly to appeal for 'those countries that have not yet recognized the state of Palestine yet, to do so.'

'Palestine, which is an observer state in the United Nations, deserves full recognition and full membership,' he said.

President Abbas claimed that seeing the Palestinian flag above the United Nations was a historic moment

He claimed that the next stage of the process was to grant Palestine full membership of the United Nations

Clashes in recent weeks between Israeli police and Palestinians at the sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem have raised tensions and prompted Abbas to warn of the risk of a third intifada, or uprising.

'I call on the Israeli government to cease its use of brutal force... particularly its actions at the Al-Aqsa mosque,' Abbas told the Assembly.

'Such actions will convert the conflict from a political one to a religious one, thus creating a explosive situation in Jerusalem and the remaining Palestinian occupied territory.'

A recent poll found that Palestinians are increasingly exasperated with his leadership and Israel's right-wing government.

A majority favor a return to armed uprising in the absence of peace talks and two-thirds want Abbas to resign.

In the runup to the speech, there have been reports that Abbas would use the opportunity to drop a 'bombshell.'

Suggestions of what that could mean have included a complete withdrawal from the Oslo accords of the 1990s or the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority that those agreements created.

While such an announcement could potentially have a major impact, many analysts questioned whether Abbas would truly press ahead with it.

Instead, he told the UN that Israel's refusal to commit to past agreements and release Palestinian prisoners, and continued Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, were sapping Palestinian hopes of ever achieving an independent state.

'They leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements, while Israel continuously violates them,' he said.

'We cannot continue to be bound by these signed agreements with Israel and Israel must assume fully all its responsibilities as an occupying power.'

Abbas said Palestinian patience 'has come to an end' and described the current situation as 'unsustainable.'

Later on Wednesday, the UN chief will also chair talks with the Diplomatic Quartet seeking a political settlement to the conflict.

The peace process has been in the doldrums since the latest US diplomatic effort failed in April last year.

In a shift, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League have been invited to the meeting, along with the foreign ministers of Russia, the United States and EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the United Nations on Thursday and call on Palestinians to stop 'incitement to violence'.