Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), delivered a speech on Thursday at the opening of the Fatah Youth Conference, held under the theme of “steadfastness and the unity of the Palestinian homeland.”
In his remarks, Abbas praised the beginning of the “Palestinian revolution” in 1965, when Fatah carried out its first attack. He mentioned the Intifada and the roles of Abu Jihad, Abu Iyad, and other leaders - whom he referred to as “heroes” - in the struggle against the State of Israel.
Abbas avoided referring to or condemning Hamas’ terror attack on October 7, 2023. Instead, he described the war in the Gaza Strip as a “barbaric war of annihilation” and a “new Nakba,” which, according to him, has led to the deaths of more than seventy thousand Palestinians.
He expressed his commitment to continuing the struggle for freedom and independence, prayed in memory of the “heroic martyrs,” and voiced support for the Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, calling them “heroic prisoners.”
On the political level, Abu Mazen made clear that Gaza is an inseparable part of the Palestinian homeland and that a Palestinian state will not be established without it and without Jerusalem. According to him, “There can be no peace without a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue in accordance with Resolution 194.”