RAMALLAH, Thursday, November 15, 2018 (WAFA) - President Mahmud Abbas condemned on Thursday the latest Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip that left 15 Palestinians dead, dozens injured and scores of houses and buildings turned into ruins, holding the Israeli government accountable for any fallout for its actions.

“Our goal is to spare our people more massacres and war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation authority,” President Abbas said at the start of a meeting held in Ramallah for the Higher Committee charged with following up on the decisions of the Palestinian Central Council that called for redefining relations with Israel and the United States.

He thanked all the countries and parties that responded to his calls to put a halt to the Israeli aggression on Gaza, particularly Egypt.

He stressed that the so-called deal of the century, the occupation and the apartheid settlements are going to eventually demise and collapse. “The inevitability of history leads us to the shores of the independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the June 4, 1967 borders, which we are committed to achieve,” he said.

"Today, the road to eliminate the causes of the division and reach reconciliation is passable with honest and precise implementation of the Cairo Agreement of October 12, 2017 in a comprehensive manner that would ensure national, political and geographical unity that will take us to the will of the people through the ballot boxes," he said.

"Our national unity is the base,” he said, calling on the factions to make the interest of the country above their own and their parties. “The independence of Palestine and Jerusalem should be put above any other consideration. They should be the point of focus for all of our people."

President Abbas congratulated the Palestinian people on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, considering it a source of political, cultural and historical pride for the Palestinian people.

The President also recalled the 14th anniversary for the passing of the founding leader, Yasser Arafat, stressing staying on his path to achieve the Palestinian people’s legitimate national rights.

M.K.