International Palestinian President Abbas: "Stop this crime"

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on Israel to leave the occupied Palestinian territories. "We will not leave, we will not leave, we will not leave. Palestine is our homeland. It is the land of our fathers, our grandfathers. It will remain ours, and if anyone were to leave, it would be the occupiers," said Abbas in his speech at the general debate of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Addressing the world community, Abbas continued: "Stop this crime. Stop it now. Stop the killing of children and women. Stop the genocide. Stop the supply of weapons to Israel." The whole world is responsible for what is happening to his people in Gaza and the West Bank.

Abbas also called once again for the "release of prisoners and detainees on both sides". He said there was no reason to detain women, children and elderly people.

Israel had conquered and occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. Although Israel vacated the Gaza Strip in 2005, it still controls the land, air and sea borders. The Palestinians claim these territories for their own state.

SDA