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Palestine's Abbas says Peres made constant efforts to make peace until his death

Xinhua, September 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that late former Israeli President Shimon Peres had exerted unremitting efforts to make peace until the last moment of his life.

"He (Peres) exerted unremitting efforts to reach a permanent peace since Oslo agreement was signed with Israel in 1993 until the last moment in his life," Abbas said in a condolence letter to Peres' family, carried by state news agency WAFA.

In his letter, Abbas expressed deep grief and sorrow for Peres' passing. "He was a partner in making the peace of the brave with late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin."

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel announced that Peres died in a hospital in the suburbs of Tel Aviv at the age of 93.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said his Islamic movement is very happy about the news of Peres' death.

"We are so happy about the news of former Israeli president's death. It is not only us, but all the Palestinian people are happy about the news of Peres' death," he said. "This man committed crimes and shed the blood of our people."

Abu Zuhri, whose movement is classified as a terrorist group and rejects to recognize Israel and the peace process, said: "Peres was the last founder of this entity (Israel) and we believe it is a start of a new stage of the Israeli occupation's weakness."

Peres was born as Szymon Perski in 1923 in a Polish town now known as Vishnyeva in Belarus. In 1934, he and his family immigrated to Israel, then known as Palestine.

His nearly 70-year political career covered almost every role in the political arena -- he served twice as prime minister. He also served as foreign minister, defense minister, finance minister, chairman of the Labor Party, and leader of the opposition in the parliament.

He played a vital role in founding Israel's military and aviation industries and established paths for exporting Israeli weapons and security equipment throughout the world.

In 1994, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in forming the short-lived peace accords with the Palestinians in 1993. Endit