BAGHDAD, May 16, 2025 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas stated on Friday that the priority now is to halt the ongoing Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
Abbas made his remarks during a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart, Abdul Latif Rashid, on the sidelines of his participation in the 34th ordinary Arab summit in Baghdad.
President Abbas and his Iraqi counterpart Rashid discussed the recent developments in the occupied territories, with focus on the ongoing genocidal war on the Palestinian people, the killing of civilians, the Gaza blockade, and the deployment of starvation as a method of warfare in the Strip.
He said that the priority now was not only for ending Israel’s genocidal aggression on the Strip, which resulted in the killing of at least 53,119 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 120,214 others, ensuing the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid into all parts of the Strip as well as full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.
He added that the current priorities also include enabling the State of Palestine to assume full responsibilities in the Strip, commencing Gaza reconstruction, halting the aggression on the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and halting Israeli settler-colonialism and schemes to annex the Palestinian territories.
He stressed that the Gaza Strip was and shall remain an integral part of the territories of the State of Palestine, which has the political and legal jurisdiction over the Strip as is the case with the remainder of the Palestinian territories.
He commended his Iraqi counterpart for his efforts and unwavering positions in support of the Palestinian people’s steadfastness on their land and in rejection of the schemes to displace Palestinians and take over any part of the territories of the State of Palestine.
He expressed his keenness to further develop historic bilateral relations, and praised Iraq for its role in support of the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights, first and foremost among which is the right to self-determination and the right to establish the independent state along the June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
On his part, Iraqi President Rashid affirmed his country’s full support to the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights, and affirmed that the ongoing genocidal aggression on Gaza requires a unified, effective Arab position that would reinforce Palestinians’ steadfastness in the face of occupation.
K.F.
