RAMALLAH, August 18, 2018 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas said during the closing session of the 29th meeting of the Palestinian Central Council held on Friday in Ramallah and was aired on Palestine TV on Saturday that popular resistance should be the only means of struggle towards independence and statehood.

“We should not underestimate it [popular resistance],” said the President as he called for further visits to the village of Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem, which is facing an imminent threat of demolition by the Israeli occupation authorities.

He remarked, “Everyone, officials and the public, should be going to Khan al-Ahmar. Our goal now must be to stay there and not allow them [the Israelis] to set up their project, because we know that they will tear apart the West Bank if they take over that area. This is a critical issue that we must keep in mind.”

On national reconciliation, Abbas said, “Either we take control of authority as it is in Gaza and the West Bank – with one state, one system, one law and one weapon – or they [Hamas] takes control instead [in Gaza].

"Reconciliation for us does not mean a truce, ceasefire or humanitarian assistance. Reconciliation means that unity should be reinstated. There is no state in Gaza nor an autonomy in the West Bank, and we will not accept this. We will never accept the separation of Gaza [from the West Bank]".

He said any aid or financial support to Gaza should only go through the legitimate Palestinian government.

M.N