In a televised address broadcast on official Palestine TV, Abbas affirmed his rejection of all forms of Israeli displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and its attempts to "annex" the occupied West Bank.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war of genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide, with American support, left more than 203,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many.
The Palestinian president stated that "the starvation and killing our people in Gaza are being subjected to in front of aid centers is a stain on the international community's brow if it does not act immediately to stop this genocide." He emphasized that "the continuation of this situation constitutes a war crime for which the occupation bears full responsibility."
He reiterated his call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the entry of food and medical supplies, and the release of tax revenues withheld by the Israeli government. He called on US President Donald Trump to intervene to allow UN agencies to deliver food and medical aid to Gaza, and urged the international community to find immediate ways to deliver the hundreds of thousands of tons of humanitarian aid currently in the vicinity of Gaza.
Since October 2023, more than 100 Palestinians, including more than 80 children, have died from famine and malnutrition in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in the Strip. Last Sunday, the government media office in Gaza warned that the Strip was on the verge of "mass death," after more than 140 days of closed crossings.
Since March 2, Israel has evaded further implementation of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, closing Gaza's crossings to aid trucks stacked along the border.
Abbas continued, saying: “I beg you, O God, to help the people of Palestine everywhere. I beg you, O God, to protect the people of Palestine who are being subjected to the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time.” He pointed out that this is happening “in light of international movements that have been unable to deter the occupiers, or even deliver milk to infants in Gaza, and have been unable to respond to the mothers and fathers who are panting and struggling to save their children from dying of starvation.” He asked in astonishment: “Is this reasonable? How can the world abandon its humanity?!”
Abbas affirmed his rejection of all forms of displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. He called for the occupation's complete withdrawal from Gaza, enabling his government to fully assume its responsibilities, and assisting Palestinians in Gaza in returning to their homes. He emphasized the need to maintain security, enforce the rule of law, and embark on the reconstruction process with Arab and international assistance.
West Bank
Regarding the West Bank, Abbas expressed his rejection of attempts to impose Israeli sovereignty (annexation) over settlement areas in the West Bank, stating that "these attempts represent a dangerous escalation and undermine the rights of the Palestinian people to their independent and sovereign state." He called on the international community to reject these violations and recognize the State of Palestine.
Abbas saluted the people of Gaza and all the Palestinian people, saying, "Your patience and steadfastness is an honor to us all, and will remain the source of our strength and will."
With a majority of 71 members of parliament, and 13 opposed, out of 120, the Israeli Knesset on Wednesday evening supported a proposal submitted by three members of parliament from the Religious Zionism, Jewish Power, and Likud parties, calling on the Israeli government to annex the occupied West Bank, including the Jordan Valley. The proposal is “only declaratory and has no binding legal force, but it carries great symbolic and historical weight,” according to the Hebrew Channel 14.
According to Israeli estimates, there are more than 750,000 settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Israel is intensifying its efforts to annex the West Bank by accelerating settlement construction and displacing Palestinians from their occupied lands.
The United Nations affirms that settlements in the occupied territories are illegal and undermine the possibility of resolving the conflict according to the two-state solution. For decades, it has called on Israel to halt them, to no avail.
