“The continuous and barbaric Israeli aggression forces us all to rise to the level of true responsibility and to work on the organization of our national home,” the president said in a meeting with Palestinian leaders in the Egyptian city of El-Alamein, in the Mediterranean coast of this nation.

Only in this way will we be able to face the occupation that attacks our existence, our rights and our sacred places, he warned in the appointment, which has the objective of seeking consensus to put an end to internal differences. Without mentioning the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Abbas considered that the events that occurred in the Gaza Strip in 2007, when that group seized power there, caused a deep division.

At the same time, he emphasized that “the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people” and therefore called for support for its political program and its international obligations.

The world recognizes the PLO as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and it is the unifying home for all, the leader said.

Abbas called for the creation of an independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem, as advocated by various UN Security Council resolutions and the international community.

This meeting is to “study ways to achieve national unity, strengthen the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, resist the continued aggression against the Palestinians and protect the homeland,” he stressed.

Although he stressed that over the decades the Palestinians used various forms of struggle, he considered that at the current stage peaceful popular resistance is the best path, a decision not shared by other factions. In the face of the occupation and the continued terrorism of the settlers, we must agree on this resistance to face the aggression, he said.

Regarding the holding of elections, the president indicated that they will be held as soon as possible when “our people in occupied East Jerusalem can participate (…) as happened in 1996, 2005 and 2006.”

In 2021, Abbas postponed the general elections indefinitely after Israel’s decision to prevent Palestinians from that territory from voting.

He also thanked the mediating role of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and this nation for organizing the inter-Palestinian meeting.

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