PRESIDENT ABBAS SAYS THE BAPTIST HOSPITAL MASSACRE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AND WILL NOT PASS WITHOUT ACCOUNTABILITY

RAMALLAH,  President Mahmoud Abbas today said that Israel’s bombing of the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City is a great calamity and a heinous war crime, which cannot be tolerated or allowed to pass without accountability.

The President added while chairing the urgent leadership meeting he called for upon his return from Jordan that the occupation government has crossed all red lines, and “we will not allow it to escape accountability and punishment.”

The President continued: “In light of this calamity that occurred tonight, and out of concern for our people, I decided to cut short my visit and return to the homeland to be among my people in this great ordeal, and I agreed with the brothers in Jordan and Egypt to cancel the summit that was scheduled today in Amman with President Biden.”

He called “to close the ranks and unity, not to shift the compass, and not to be drawn into strife from which only the enemies of the Palestinian people will benefit.”

The President stressed that “the aggression against our people must stop,” calling on the international community to hold the occupation government accountable and provide international protection for the Palestinian people.

“We will not allow a new Nakba (catastrophe) in the twenty-first century, and we will not accept the displacement of our people again,” he said. “Our people will remain steadfast in their homeland and will not leave, no matter the sacrifices.”

The President stressed that “we will do everything necessary to stop the bloodbath in Gaza and in the West Bank,” adding: “We will not accept from anyone anything other than stopping this war, and the Security Council must shoulder its responsibilities and take the initiative to issue a resolution to condemn this crime and stop the aggression immediately.”

He called on the Palestinian people to be united saying, "This is a critical and dangerous moment. It can only be faced with unity and steadfastness in the face of the Israeli aggression."

The President saluted the people in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the Israeli plan to displace them from their homeland “will not pass and we will confront it by all means.”

He expressed his appreciation for the positions of the Arab countries that rejected displacement, stressing that “our people will not kneel, will not surrender, and will prevail.”