RAMALLAH, October 13, 2026 (WAFA) – Fatah Central Committee Member Yasser Abbas warned on Monday that the Israeli occupation authorities’ policy of Judaization of Jerusalem constitutes a violation of the sanctity of the Christian and Muslim holy sites.
In an urgent political appeal to the secretaries-general of political parties and leaders of political forces across the Arab world, the region, and the globe, Abbas, who also serves as Commissioner-General for Foreign Relations, cautioned that the systematic Judaization policies pursued by Israel, the occupying Power, against occupied Jerusalem, along with its persistent attempts to alter Jerusalem’s Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity and historical landmarks, and repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound constitute a violation of the sanctity of Muslim and Christian holy sites and the rights of the Palestinian people.
He noted that these actions pose a serious threat to the city's identity and religious and historical status, as well as to efforts to achieve a just peace based on respect for rights and international law.
Abbas pointed to an unprecedented escalation in colonists' attacks on Palestinian villages and farmers during the olive harvest season, noting that colonists were stealing olive crops and attacking both international and Israeli solidarity activists, journalists, under the watch and protection of the Israeli occupation police and forces.
These forces, he added, were uprooting thousands of olive trees using military bulldozers, seizing large tracts of Palestinian land, demolishing homes, erecting gates and checkpoints, imposing movement restrictions and even curfews in many areas.
The Commissioner-General explained that Palestinians in the genocide-stricken Gaza Strip continue to endure extremely harsh humanitarian conditions amid ongoing killing, destruction, and attacks, with thousands of Palestinians killed although a year has elapsed since the ceasefire took effect.
Abbas expressed his firm belief that free political parties and forces worldwide stand with human rights, justice, and the freedom of peoples. He urged them to raise their voices in defense of Jerusalem and its Muslim and Christian holy sites, reject attempts to Judaize the city and alter its identity, call for the protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and freedom of worship at both sites, and safeguard the city's longstanding historical and legal status quo.
He called for broad political and popular mobilization in solidarity with Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest season, urging condemnation of colonists' attacks, crop theft, the burning of trees, and land confiscation. He also called for efforts to protect civilians and support solidarity initiatives that enable farmers to access their land and harvest their crops safely.
Abbas further called for political pressure on governments, parliaments, and international institutions to intervene to halt Israel’s colonial settlement expansion, land confiscation, home demolitions, and forced displacement, and to ensure accountability for those responsible for violations and prevent them from enjoying impunity.
He stressed the need for urgent action on Gaza to ensure compliance with the ceasefire, end killing and destruction, facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid, support reconstruction, alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people, and reject all attempts to displace them or undermine their national rights.
He also called for strengthening the international solidarity movement with Palestine and expanding cooperation among political parties and forces, trade unions, federations, popular movements, and human rights organizations to help build a broader international front in defense of international law and the Palestinian people’s inalienable national rights.
Abbas concluded his appeal by stressing that supporting and standing with people of conscience who cherish peace is a humanitarian, political, and moral responsibility incumbent upon all those who believe that justice is indivisible and that true peace cannot be built on occupation, oppression, or the denial of peoples' rights.
K.F.
