President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas called for an “immediate end to the devastating war,” in comments made during a meeting Sunday with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency.
Abbas also stressed the need for “the rapid delivery of humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, food, water, electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip,” WAFA reported.
Blinken met with Abbas in Ramallah amid escalating settler violence in the West Bank after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
“We are meeting once again under extremely difficult circumstances and there are no words to describe the genocide and destruction our Palestinian people are suffering in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli war machine, with no regard for international law,” Abbas told the Blinken. WAFA.
The two met twice in Jordan during Blinken’s trip to the region last month, following the Hamas attack.
According to WAFA’s account of the meeting, Abbas “asked how one can remain silent about the killing of ten thousand Palestinians, including four thousand children, and tens of thousands of wounded, along with the destruction of peaceful units, infrastructure, hospitals, shelters. and water tanks.”
He also warned against displacing Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank or Jerusalem and categorically rejected such actions.
Escalating settler violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem “is no less heinous, with killings and attacks on land, people and holy sites by Israeli occupation forces and extremist settlers, who are committing crimes of ethnic cleansing, racial discrimination and appropriation.” of the funds of the Palestinian people,” Abbas told Blinken.
At least 150 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health – a number approaching the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank in all of 2022.
Abbas said Israel is “fully responsible for what is happening,” adding that “military solutions and security solutions will not bring security to Israel.” “Stop them from committing these crimes immediately,” the Palestinian Authority president asked the US secretary of state.
Abbas stressed that security and peace “can be achieved by ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory, with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the 1967 borders.”
He also asserted that “Gaza is an integral part of the State of Palestine and they will bear full responsibilities under a comprehensive political solution for both the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.”
Abbas denied the legitimacy of Hamas to represent the Palestinian people, telling Blinken that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is “the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people.”
