Palestinian Authority could only return to Gaza if ‘solution’ found: Abbas

RAMALLAH: Palestine President Mahmud Abbas on Sunday said that the Palestinian Authority could return to power in the Gaza Strip only if a “comprehensive solution” is found for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

“We (the Palestinian Authority) will fully assume our responsibilities within the framework of a comprehensive political solution that includes all of the West Bank, including east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip,” Abbas told visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Receiving US State Secretary, President Abbas demands immediate end to Israel’s aggression on Gaza.https://t.co/6oyuamfIby

Credit: Thaer Ghanaim/WAFA News Agency #GazaGenocide #GazaUnderAttack #PalestinianGenocide #غزة_الآن #Gaza #غزه_تقاوم_وستنتصر pic.twitter.com/VhL5aWa8Uf

— Wafa News Agency – English (@WAFANewsEnglish) November 5, 2023

Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. It was the top US diplomat’s first visit to the Palestinian territory since war erupted between Israel and Hamas.

In his sit-down with Mahmud Abbas, Blinken said Palestinians in Gaza “must not be forcibly displaced”, and the pair also discussed “the need to stop extremist violence against Palestinians” in the West Bank, a US State Department spokesman said.

“The Secretary reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance and resumption of essential services in Gaza and made clear that Palestinians must not be forcibly displaced,” said the spokesman.

Abbas condemned what he labelled a “genocide” unfolding in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

“I have no words to describe the genocide and destruction suffered by our Palestinian people in Gaza at the hands of Israel’s war machine, with no regard for the principles of international law,” Abbas was quoted as saying to Blinken.

In the meeting which lasted less than an hour, Abbas told Blinken that there must be an “immediate ceasefire” and humanitarian aid should be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip

Blinken last week told a Senate hearing Abbas’s Palestinian Authority should retake control of Gaza after the war, even though it currently exercises only limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank.

Read More: Over 30 killed in Israeli bombing on Al-Maghazi camp in Gaza: health ministry

Abbas said Sunday the Palestinian Authority could return to power in Gaza only if a “comprehensive political solution” is found for the conflict.

Israel has relentlessly bombarded the besieged Gaza Strip, levelling entire city blocks and killing thousands, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

In Gaza nearly 9,800 people, including women and children, have died since October 7, the Hamas-run health ministry reported.