RAMALLAH, April 15, 2023 – President Mahmoud Abbas affirmed today that Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites are a red line, and that the Palestinian people and leadership will not tolerate attacks on worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

“The attacks we witnessed today on our people celebrating Holy Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied Jerusalem, along with the preceding attacks on worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the desecration of its courtyards, are condemned and rejected,” the President said during a Ramadan iftar banquet at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah.

He added that these Israeli actions “reveal the duplicity of the occupation, which claims to allow freedom of worship in the holy places.”

President Abbas reaffirmed the Palestinian position that international legitimacy must serve as the basis for resolving the Palestinian issue and ending the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

He pointed out that on May 15 the United Nations will mark, for the first time, the 75th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba. “What is required of Palestinians everywhere is to commemorate this tragedy, because this is the first time the global community does not deny our Nakba,” he said.

“Commemorating the Nakba must be among our top priorities in order to preserve our narrative, which we must uphold and convey to the world,” the President added, urging Palestinians to mark the 1948 tragedy “to confront lies and false narratives that attempt to distort history and facts.”

Concluding his remarks, President Abbas appealed to the Palestinian people to stand united during these blessed days to face the challenges confronting the national cause, protect the land and sanctities, and focus on confronting and ending the occupation.