THE President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday stressed the need to completely stop the ongoing aggression against the 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 explained the ongoing war crimes committed by Israel against Palestine, with the number of slain Palestinians having so far exceeded 20,000, and the wounded are at least 60,000, noting that there are more than 7,000 missing under the rubble.
‘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 in any other country, and Gaza needs now to see tens of billions return to at least a liveable place,’ President Abbas said.
He continued: ‘Anyone who goes to Gaza does not know it now, because of the great extent of the destruction in infrastructure, facilities, and property, and what is happening in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, is not far different.
‘The colonists, who are attacking all the cities, villages, and camps on a daily basis are protected by the occupation army, which is now doing all that as well,’ he added.
‘Israel says it is defending itself, but this is an unacceptable, illogical claim’, he said.
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.’
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.
President Abbas suggested that the US ‘can implement this and order Israel to do so.’
Israeli airstrike kills 18 civilians
An Israeli airstrike yesterday near the Red Crescent’s al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, killed 18 Palestinian civilians and wounded dozens of others.
Israeli warplanes launched violent airstrikes targeting the central area of the Gaza Strip, especially Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps, and missiles hit the shelters, which killed several people.
The occupation artillery and warplanes also targeted a house of the Nassar family in the New Camp, and another house of the Hazouki family, which led to the killing of a number of people and dozens of wounded.
Israeli warplanes and artillery also bombarded Gaza City, especially al-Shaja’ia, and al-Tuffah neighbourhoods.
More than 60 people were missing after Israeli shelling targeted a three-story residential building near al-Azhar University in Gaza City. In the Saftawi area of Gaza City, six people killed by Israeli snipers were taken to al-Shifa Hospital.
Dozens of Palestinian civilians, most of them children and women, were killed, and others were wounded, in a series of raids launched by occupation warplanes on Wednesday, on various sites in the Gaza Strip, for the 82nd consecutive day of the aggression.
The occupation aircraft launched violent raids targeting the central region of the Gaza Strip, especially the Bureij and Al-Maghazi camps, where the shells reached shelter centres.
According to eyewitnesses, there are a number of slain citizens still lying on the ground, and ambulances and civil defence crews cannot reach them, due to the intensity of the bombing.
Al-Nuseirat camp saw bombardment by occupation artillery and warplanes, which targeted a house for the Nassar family in the camp, and another house for the Al-Hazouqi family, which killed a number of citizens, and wounded dozens of people with various injuries. They were transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs and Al-Awda Hospitals.
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