Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas affirmed today, Wednesday, that "the unjust aggressive war against our people in the Gaza Strip is a war on Palestinian existence and national identity, and what is happening is a stain on the conscience of those who support this aggression and provide it with political and military cover." During his speech on the 35th anniversary of the declaration of independence, he stated: "The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the land of the State of Palestine, and it is among our national responsibilities that we cannot abandon, and the present of the sector is the same as that of the West Bank, including Jerusalem." He stressed "our strong rejection of the plans for the displacement and deportation of our people, whether in the Gaza Strip or the occupied West Bank."
He continued: "Just peace will only be achieved by recognizing our people's right to self-determination. The declaration of independence was a national decision crowned by the PLO after decades of national struggle to protect the Palestinian existence," pointing out that "the dawn of Palestine will soon rise, and our people's sacrifices will not be in vain." The Palestinian president appreciated "the positions of countries that reject the continuation of the occupation and its aggression against our homeland and people," explaining that "the devilish plans are not hidden from us; they have become glaringly obvious, plainly stated by some occupation leaders without shame, but we have always thwarted them, and we will continue to confront them with all our might. Palestine is our only homeland, and we will not accept any alternative. If anyone is to leave our land, it is the occupation."
He noted that "our top priorities now, which we are working on with all our energy, are to stop the barbaric aggression against our people and to protect this people from further bloodshed, for a drop of blood from a Palestinian child, or from a woman or a man from our people, is more precious to us than the world and everything in it."
