Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said that Israel’s policy of expansion of settlements will end nowhere, insisting that the illegal houses built on Palestinian lands would collapse sooner or later. RNA - “It is unimportant that they (Israelis) declare houses here and settlements there, they will all be gone, they will be on the dustbins of the history,” said Abbas while making a rare visit to a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.
The comments, covered by the Arabic section of Turkey’s Anadolu news agency, are among the most pointed coming from Abbas, a man whose 14-year-old tenure as President of the Palestinian Authority has proved to be mostly unpopular mainly due to his close security cooperation with the Israeli regime over the years.
However, Abbas has chosen to be more assertive in his criticism of Israel over the past months, especially now that the regime in Tel Aviv seems to be gaining more support from the United States in its illegal plans to annex more Palestinian and Arab territories.
Abbas said during his visit to the Jalazone camp that Israeli settlements will eventually fall down, no matter how much Israel wants to expand them.
“No matter how much Israel announces the construction of houses and settlements, they will fall down,” he said, adding, “And they will remember that the (Palestinian) land belongs to their owners.”
Official media outlets published images of Abbas flanked by senior Palestinian officials during his visit to Jalazone, located to the west of the occupied West Bank.
According to Press TV, many said the tour, believed to be a first in several years, was a response to a visit on Thursday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the the nearby Beit El settlement.
“The visit was greatly welcomed by the camp's residents,” said Mahmoud Mubarak, head of the popular committee in Jalazone camp, adding that the visit was a “first political response" to the Netanyahu's visit to Beit El.
Abbas said in his speech to residents of Jalazone that Palestinians will continue to resist Israeli occupation come what may.
“The Palestinian people will remain steadfast, resilient and struggling on its land,” Abbas said, according to remarks covered by the official WAFA news agency.
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