RAMALLAH, April 22, 2025 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas chaired today a meeting of the Fatah Central Committee at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah.

At the beginning of the meeting, the President and members of the Central Committee recited Al-Fatiha for the souls of the martyrs of the Palestinian people.

He also offered his condolences on the passing of Pope Francis, praising his virtues and his honorable support for rights, justice, peace, and freedom for the Palestinian people.

President Abbas also praised his recognition of the State of Palestine, his raising of the Palestinian flag at the Vatican, and the canonization of two Palestinian saints.

He called for an end to the suffering of our people in the Gaza Strip, the opening of Jerusalem to believers, and the implementation of international law.

The Central Committee heard a detailed explanation from President Abbas regarding the political situation and the results of his ongoing Arab and international meetings and contacts to halt the ongoing aggression against our people.

He emphasized the need for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, an end to the attacks on our people in the West Bank, and the need to secure further international recognition of the State of Palestine and to obtain full membership in the United Nations.

The final preparations for the Central Council session scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, at the presidential headquarters were then discussed.

This session will address the latest developments in the Palestinian situation and put the Palestinian house in order to confront the challenges facing our cause and our people.

The meeting also discussed the ongoing war of genocide waged by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people, amid international silence.

This silence has only encouraged the occupation to persist in its crimes and aggression, resulting in the martyrdom and injury of more than 200,000 citizens and the widespread and systematic destruction of the Gaza Strip.

The Central Committee warned of the occupation's dangerous plans to reoccupy the Gaza Strip and dismember it to force the Palestinian people to flee, adding that this is unacceptable to Palestinians, Arabs, and the international community, and will not be allowed to happen thanks to the steadfastness and adherence of our people to their land and homeland.

The Central Committee stated that the world, especially the UN Security Council, must assume its responsibilities and compel the occupying state to halt its war of extermination in the Gaza Strip and the dangerous attacks launched by the occupation forces and terrorist settlers in the West Bank, particularly against cities, villages, and camps in the northern West Bank.

The Committee said the the Israeli authorities must also halt the policy of executions, displacement, and arrests, as well as the bombing of residential neighborhoods and the destruction of the infrastructure of cities, villages, and camps, affirming it must also halt attacks on holy religious sites in occupied Jerusalem, especially the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Fatah Central Committee called on Hamas to stop toying with the fate of the Palestinian people according to its foreign agendas, cooperate with the efforts of President Abbas to stop the Palestinian bloodshed, and refrain from giving the occupation pretexts to continue its bloody war and aggression, which has cost thousands of our people, including martyrs, wounded, and prisoners.

It also called on Hamas to adhere to the principles upon which the policy of the Palestine Liberation Organization is based.

A.D./ K.F.