Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Wednesday he decided to return to Ramallah and not participate in the Quartet summit scheduled to be held in the Jordanian capital, Amman, after a strike on a Gaza hospital killed hundreds on Tuesday.
The Palestinian leader blamed Israel for the deadly strike of the Al Ahli Arab Baptist hospital in Gaza City, stressing that this "heinous war crime" cannot be tolerated or allowed to pass without accountability.
Abbas was expected to participate in the Quartet summit with the presence of US President Joe Biden, Jordanian King Abdullah II, and Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip.
During an urgent cabinet meeting he called for upon his return from Jordan, Abbas said the Israeli government has crossed all red lines, and “we will not allow it to escape accountability and punishment.”
“In light of this calamity that occurred tonight, and out of concern for our people, I decided to cut short my visit and return to the homeland to be among my people in this great ordeal, and I agreed with the brothers in Jordan and Egypt to cancel the summit that was scheduled today in Amman with President Biden,” said the Palestinian president.
Abbas called “to close the ranks and unity, not to shift the compass, and not to be drawn into strife from which only the enemies of the Palestinian people will benefit.”
The Palestinian leader stressed that “the aggression against our people must stop,” calling on the international community to hold the occupation government accountable and provide international protection for the Palestinian people.
“We will not allow a new Nakba in the twenty-first century, and we will not accept the displacement of our people again,” he said. “Our people will remain steadfast in their homeland and will not leave, no matter the sacrifices.”
The president said that “we will do everything necessary to stop the bloodbath in Gaza and in the West Bank,” adding that “we will not accept from anyone anything other than stopping this war, and the Security Council must shoulder its responsibilities and take the initiative to issue a resolution to condemn this crime and stop the aggression immediately.”
Addressing the Palestinian people, Abbas said "this is a critical and dangerous moment that can only be faced with unity and steadfastness in the face of the Israeli aggression."
The Palestinian leader added that the Israeli plan to displace the people in the Gaza Strip from their homeland “will not pass and we will confront it by all means.”
Expressing his appreciation for the positions of the Arab countries that rejected displacement, Abbas stressed that “our people will not kneel, will not surrender, and will prevail.”
The Gaza health ministry said at least 500 were killed in the al-Ahli Baptist hospital air strike, many of them women and children. A UN-run school housing refugees was also struck.
