PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas stressed yesterday that “Jerusalem is a red line” and there would be “no peace, no security and no stability” without the liberation of the entire city from Israeli occupation.

“Palestinians are looking for ‘a future without aggression and without (Israeli) settlements’,” Anadolu Agency quoted Abbas said in a televised address before a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.

“We continue to act and work to stop the barbaric aggression on our people in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank,” he said.

He added that the Palestinian leadership is in contact with the US administration on ending Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Abbas also had a message for Israel: “We will not leave our country. End your occupation of our country today, not tomorrow.”

Israel continues to target Gaza with heavy bombardment, bringing the death toll there to 65 with 365 wounded, in addition to heavy damage to residential areas across Gaza.

Anadolu Agency also reported that the death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza climbed to 67 today, including 17 children and six women, with 388 injured.

Citing a statement by the Palestinian Health Ministry, two Palestinians were killed in Israel’s recent attacks on the region, including a child.

Heavy damage has also been recorded across Gaza’s residential areas, including the levelling of multistorey buildings.

To date, six Israelis have been killed in the recent violence – five of them in rocket attacks in addition to a soldier killed when an anti-tank guided missile struck his jeep.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed the city in its entirety in 1980 in a move that has never been recognised by the international community. – Bernama, May 13, 2021.