PA President Abbas: 'Hamas must surrender its weapons, we want a demilitarized state'
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday evening that Hamas will have to surrender its weapons in the aftermath of the war in Gaza.
"Hamas will have no rule after the war, and it will hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, because we want a demilitarized state," Abbas said during a meeting with the UK's new foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper.
According to the PA, the meeting focused on developments in the territories and the relations between Great Britain and the Palestinians.
Abbas expressed his appreciation for the British government's position, which calls for an immediate ceasefire and the delivery of aid to Gaza, as well as its opposition to Israeli settlements and settler violence.
The Palestinian president also praised "Britain's historic decision" to recognize a Palestinian state ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, calling it "a correction of a historic injustice and the opening of a new horizon toward peace."
According to Abbas, the Palestinian priorities are an immediate ceasefire in Gaza; immediate humanitarian aid; the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners; the withdrawal of "occupying forces;" the reconstruction of Gaza, and its transfer to the control of the PA.
Omer Shahar is a correspondent for KAN 11 news.
You might also like to read this:
