PLO central council resumes meeting in Ramallah

By Qays abu Samra

RAMALLAH (AA) – The umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) resumed a major meeting of its central council in Ramallah on Monday.

“There is consensus between Palestinian factions on the necessity to review agreements signed between the PLO and Israel,” Wasel Abu Yousef, PLO executive committee member, told Anadolu Agency.

He expected that the PLO central council will “define the nature of relations with the occupation state that did not abide by agreements”.

The two-day meeting was opened on Sunday to discuss means of countering a U.S. decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The U.S. policy shift on Jerusalem has sparked outcry across the Arab and Muslim world and protests in the Palestinian territories that left at least 16 people dead.

On Saturday, the PLO Executive Committee called for a UN-sponsored international conference to solve the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine.

The PLO is an umbrella group that includes most major Palestinian political factions, with the exception of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which are committed to a policy of armed resistance against Israel's decades-long occupation.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.