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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat

Abbas Asserts Palestinians Won’t Surrender

Palestinians carry the body of Abdullah Sabri, head of the Red Crescent Society (Wafa)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian people would not surrender and would remain steadfast in the face of the Israeli occupation.

Abbas asserted that Palestinians would expand the scope of their peaceful popular resistance.

The President was speaking during a televised speech broadcast by Palestine TV at the meeting of the International Academic Campaign Against Occupation and Apartheid, held in Ramallah and Gaza.

He accused Israel of launching daily and hourly aggression against the Palestinians, their land, and sanctities, warning that the “colonial settlement is expanding like cancer.”

The President said that occupation soldiers kill Palestinians daily, and the Israeli authority continue to detain the bodies of martyrs, demolish homes, confiscate land, and prevent the people from investing in their natural resources.

“We will not surrender. We will remain steadfast in resisting the occupation,” said Abbas, adding that “we will expand the scope of our peaceful popular resistance, and we will take action at the international level to compel Israel to end its occupation and stop its aggression and to hold it accountable for its crimes and breaches of international law.”

Later, the Revolutionary Council of Fatah held its tenth session to discuss the political situation ahead of forming, as Israel prepares to form a right-wing government.

Fatah Central Committee member, Abbas Zaki, said that Abbas would address the Council, saying it was time to take practical measures.

Zaki indicated that Fatah should organize its ranks, relations with Arab countries, and international relations, adding that the movement should prepare itself for the 8th general conference in May.

The Palestinians are preparing for an expected confrontation with the right-wing Israeli cabinet, seeking to develop a clear strategy to deal with the government led by extremists such as Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Ben Gvir and Smotrich enjoyed broad powers concerning al-Aqsa Mosque and establishing and legitimizing illegal settlements in the West Bank.

The Israelis are also preparing for this confrontation after the Israeli security services warned that escalation was inevitable.

Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar, cautioned Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu against the backdrop of forming his new government, warning that it could lead to the authority’s collapse.

Israeli and Palestinian security services fear that forming an Israeli right-wing government with broader powers for extremists would bring chaos to the region.

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