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Abbas: Israel responsible for Palestinian youth reaction

Xinhua, November 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that Israel assumes the responsibility of the Palestinian youth reactions, in reference to the current wave of violence that has been flaring between Palestinians and Israel since October.

During a press conference he held with the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipra in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas said the Palestinians are living under difficult and "unbearable" conditions.

He explained that these conditions result from the continuation of the Israeli occupation to the Palestinian lands, the escalation of settler attacks against Palestinian properties and holy sites.

"The extremely difficult conditions under which Palestinians are living, the criminal settler acts, collective punishments, arrests, extra-judicial assassinations, economic siege and the lack of a political horizon are all reasons that created desperation and hopelessness among the Palestinians," Abbas said.

A wave of tension and violent confrontations broke out in the Palestinian territories in early October in protest to the frequent Jewish extremists storming of al-Aqsa mosque compound in the old city in east Jerusalem.

The health ministry said in an emailed press statement that among the 101 killed Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, there are 22 children and four women, adding that more than 4,000 were injured.

In response to the Israeli measures and practices on the ground, 19 Israelis were killed in a series of stabbing, running over cars and shooting attacks in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel.

Abbas warned against the flaring situation in Jerusalem, saying it could take conflict from a political to a religious one.

He reiterated his request for the international community to provide Palestinians with international protection, and urged for a European role to set a timeframe for ending the occupation.

In turn, Tsipra expressed his country's concern towards the escalation in violence against civilians in the region, and the settlement expansion policy at the expense of the Palestinian people.

Tsipra said that his country worries most about the freeze in the political process and the lack of progress which is needed to regenerate hope among Palestinians who deserve it.

He added that the "open wound" represented in the Palestinian cause is a reason for the escalation in conflicts in the region, calling for "daring" initiatives to solve the Palestinian cause.

Tsipra also expressed support for the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with sovereignty on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Endit