The President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, stressed the need to completely stop the ongoing aggression against Palestinian people, open all crossings, double the entry of humanitarian aid, and reject and prevent the forced displacement of the Palestinian people.
In a television interview with Egyptian media personality Lamis Al-Hadidi, the President appreciated the Egyptian and Jordanian position supporting the steadfastness of Palestinian people and rejecting the plan to displace them, indicating the readiness of the Palestinian Authority to assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip as it had previously assumed, as well as in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, as a single Palestinian state.
“There is constant communication and coordination with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, or the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, in order to work to stop the aggression immediately. We, Egypt and Jordan agree on everything, in addition to our brothers in Saudi Arabia.” Also, “stressing the importance of communication at all levels with our Arab brothers,” he said.
The President explained that what is happening today is a major crime committed more than 80 days ago against the Palestinian people, not only in Gaza, but in the West Bank, including Jerusalem as well, explaining that the number of slain Palestinians has so far exceeded 20,000, and the wounded are about 60,000, noting that there are more than 7,000 are missing under the rubble.
He described what happened as a hideous matter, which is happening in front of the world, led by the United States of America, expressing his regret at the United States’ position of refusing to stop this war, and the Veto it issues every time the world, the Security Council, and the General Assembly try to stop it.
“What is happening on Palestinian land these days is greater than a disaster, and greater than a war of genocide, and our people have not witnessed such a war, even in the Nakba of 1948. What is happening now is much uglier than what happened and perhaps in any other country, and Gaza needs now to the tens of billions to return to at least a livable place,” President Abbas said.
“Anyone who goes to Gaza does not know it because of the great extent of destruction in infrastructure, facilities, and property, and what is happening in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, is not far different. The colonists who were attacking all the cities, villages, and camps on a daily basis were protected by the occupation army, which is now doing all that,” he added.
He noted that Israel says it is defending itself, saying this is unacceptable, illogical, and unacceptable to any mind. “Is it defending itself from what?”
The President noted that “Israel’s plan is to eliminate the Palestinian presence, and this will not happen, as this is the plan of Netanyahu personally and his current government, and I am not saying that previous governments are innocent, as they all seek to get rid of the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority.”
In this regard, he said: “We are present in Gaza, and we are doing our duty, and we have not and will not abandon it, and despite the Hamas coup in 2007, we are present all the time to this day, and we have 5 ministers in the government from Gaza, 3 of whom reside there.”
President Abbas affirmed his readiness at any time to hold an international conference, in order to study the situation on the basis of international legitimacy, which is the establishment of the State of Palestine that includes Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, and there is no dispute over this.”
The President stressed that “Israel does not want us to return. It wants to stay and seize parts of Gaza, but the entire world does not agree with it, and in theory America also rejects that. It can implement this and order Israel to do so.”
Regarding solidarity with the Palestinian people, the President said, “After October 7, for 3 or 4 days, there was public opinion in Europe against us, governments and peoples, but after direct meetings and contacts with presidents and prime ministers, many of them changed their positions. These countries began to change their positions. There is aggression that I want them to stop. I want peace according to international legitimacy, nothing more and nothing less.”
Regarding the cancellation of Christian holiday celebrations, The President, “We are with the church, and we support what the church decides because this is a national holiday and we celebrate it, the birthday of Jesus Christ, and in Palestine it is considered a national holiday for the Palestinian people, and by the way, we have been personally attending all the holidays the late leader Yasser Arafat was President, because these are our holidays. Now the situation is everywhere: destruction, killing and attacks, and you know that the churches in Gaza have been destroyed.”
Regarding the situation in the West Bank, he said, “Israel ultimately wants to displace the Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, as it did in 1948, and this is clearly demonstrated by the continuing attacks.”
Regarding the possibility of Russia being a partner in upcoming talks for a two-state solution, President Abbas said, “Russia is with us 100% without any discussion, and support and humanitarian aid is constantly provided by Russia to us.”
The President said: “We are against the killing of civilians, and Netanyahu says that the biggest crime they committed is Oslo, and they want to get rid of its results, but the Israeli people, the Knesset, and the Israeli government were with it, supported it, signed it, and we followed its implementation, and the proof of that is that we are here, the Palestinian Authority was established here.”
Regarding the Palestinian dialogue, President Abbas said: “With great regret, we always hear the word Palestinian dialogue, and many of countries use Palestinian reconciliation. The efforts have not stopped at all, the latest of which is in the Egyptian city of El Alamein, and I call on everyone, without exception, to national unity and to the unity of the Palestinian decision. We agree.” However, the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and is committed to international legitimacy, followed by peaceful popular resistance, after which we call for a political solution.”
President Abbas added that: “the State of Palestine is recognized by 142 countries, which also recognize the two-state solution, which means the majority of the United Nations, but we demand recognition of the State of Palestine in the United Nations.”
He explained that Israel has a wrong theory, or an invented theory called a land without a people for a people without a land, on the basis that there are no Palestinians, noting that “we have existed since the days of the Canaanites, existed before them, we exist, we are the people of the country, we exist and we have a state, and global recognition of the vision of the two-state.”
Regarding the settlements, the President reiterated that they are illegal, but rather a fait accompli, and the day will come when the settlements will disappear and an independent state will be established.
President Abbas touched on economic issues, and said that Israel is waging a severe economic war against Palestinians, pointing out that according to the Paris Agreement, “Israel collects taxes for us and gets 3%, and the total that Israel collects now is about a billion dollars, and unfortunately we do not receive any support or aid,” he noted.
“I completely lived through the crisis of the 1948 Nakba. I lived the tragedy. I left my home as a refugee, and since that day I have been living in tragedies, but in patience and hope that is impossible to end. My only concern is to keep hope among the people, and hope exists, but people like Netanyahu are making us suffer. We are now experiencing distress at its worst, but we have hope, and we must not lose it,” he said.
The President called on the world to understand that we Palestinians are a people like other peoples who deserve life and independence, and to live free like other people, adding that it is not permissible for Palestinians to remain under occupation until now, after 76 years, as there is no people to date suffering under occupation other than Palestinian people.
Source: wafa
