PA President Abbas urges conference for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
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The President of the Palestinian Authority reiterates his position in seeking negotiation rather than armed resistance to end the occupation, adding that he can revive the Palestinian Authority based on a binding international agreement and hold presidential and parliamentary elections.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at his office in the Occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, November 30, 2023. (AP)
In a Reuters interview in Ramallah on Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for an international peace conference to reach a lasting establishment of a Palestinian state, and thus an immediate end to the war on Gaza.
Abbas reiterated his position in seeking negotiation rather than armed resistance to end the occupation.
"I am with peaceful resistance. I am for negotiations based on an international peace conference and under international auspices that would lead to a solution that will be protected by world powers to establish a sovereign Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem," he said.
This comes after a top US official declared that the proposal for an international conference has already been raised but was still at a very early stage. The anonymous official said, "It's one of many options on the table that we and others would consider with an open mind, but no decision has been made about that".
Abbas continued that he would be able to revive the Palestinian Authority based on a binding international agreement, work on long-awaited reforms, and hold presidential and parliamentary elections( the first after Hamas won in 2006). He added that the PA has abided by the 1993 Oslo Accord and the understandings that followed with "Israel" but the latter broke its pledges.
"Whoever wins wins, these will be democratic elections", he said.
Gaza under revitalized PA
Last week, the White House released a statement on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris after she convened with Abbas to discuss the situation in Gaza and issues related to PA governance after the end of the war.
The statement read, "The Vice President reiterated US support for the Palestinian people and their right to security, dignity and self-determination. She underscored our commitment to a two-state solution and said that the Palestinian people must have a clear political horizon".
Harris specifically spoke of a common Palestinian governance after the end of the war having "reiterated US support for a unified West Bank and Gaza under a revitalized Palestinian Authority."
The PA president claimed that he intended to hold elections in April 2021, but the European Union revealed to him beforehand that "Israel" was objecting to voting in East Jerusalem, which led him to call it off since he did not want elections without East Jerusalem.
Although he did not provide a concrete set plan for a post-war Gaza, he said, "The United States tells us that it supports a two-state solution, that Israel is not allowed to occupy Gaza, to keep security control of Gaza or to expropriate land from Gaza," referring to a plan proposed by "Israel" to establish a security zone in Gaza post-war.
"America doesn't force Israel to implement what it says."
Read next: 'License To Kill': Why the ICC will never prosecute Netanyahu for Gaza
US bears responsibility for happenings in Gaza
Abbas noted that the PA was still present in Gaza, paying the monthly salaries estimated at $140 million for employees, pensioners, and families in need.
"We need rehabilitation, we need big support to return to Gaza," Abbas said, adding, "Gaza today is not the Gaza that you know. Gaza was destroyed, its hospitals, its schools, its infrastructure, its buildings, its roads and mosques were destroyed. There is nothing left. When we return we need resources, Gaza needs reconstruction."
He continued to criticize the US for supporting "Israel" and thus "bears the responsibility of what is happening in the enclave".
It is worth noting that Abbas met with ICC prosecutor Karim Khan last week and held "discussions on deepening cooperation under Rome Statute" according to Khan's post on X.
On visit to #Ramallah, #ICC Prosecutor @KarimKhanQC was delighted to meet w/ His Excellency Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of #Palestine.
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) December 3, 2023
Prosecutor expressed sincere thanks for welcome on his visit. Important discussions on deepening cooperation under Rome Statute. pic.twitter.com/h3ah3UE4gb
"It is the only power that is capable of ordering Israel to stop the war and fulfill its obligations, but unfortunately it doesn't. America is an accomplice of Israel," he said.
