Yousuf al-Mahmoud, the official spokesman of the PA, confirmed that the American administration has not met its financial "commitment" to the Palestinian Authority for more than a year, and therefore there is nothing new in the American announcement of a cut in millions of dollars in aid to the PA that was recently published on the matter. Mahmoud added that the American announcement of the cessation of aid was part of the policy of “blackmail” and pressure exerted by President Donald Trump against PA leadership in an attempt to force it to accept the “Deal of the Century,” the American peace initiative to resolve the conflict. Mahmoud stressed that the “Palestinian people” and their leadership would not submit to any pressure and would not bargain over their national principles, since these principles are sacred to every “Palestinian” and cannot be replaced with something “tainted.” He said that the current US policy supports the "Israeli occupation" and undermines any possibility of peace.
