Israel took advantage of Oct. 7 Hamas attack to go after Palestinian people: Abbas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday Israel took advantage of the October 7 Hamas attack to go after Gazans, and called upon the US to urge Israel to “hold its fire” as a Rafah invasion seems imminent.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) special meeting in Saudi Arabia, President Abbas called on global powers, specifically Israeli ally US, to “prevent Israel from perpetrating the crime.”

A “small strike [in Rafah] is all it takes for everyone to be forced to leave Palestine,” the president said, speaking in Arabic.

He said Palestine is anticipating a full-scale invasion into Rafah “in the next few days,” an area currently home to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Palestinians.

Thanking the Saudi leadership for providing a platform to discuss the months-long war in Gaza, Abbas attributed the latest fighting to the 75-year-long “Israeli occupation.”

“Israel took advantage of that attack to retaliate disproportionally under the pretext that it was revenge against Hamas,” Abbas said.

“From the 7th of October, we condemned this attack,” he said. “We must not repeat the Nakbah of 1948 and 1967,” he said, referring to the violent mass displacements that had led to the loss of homes, identity, and in many cases, human and civil rights, for Palestinians.

Currently, much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble, and more than 34,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in the war instigated by the Iran-backed Hamas militant group last October.

The militant attack led to the death of around 1,200 Israelis with more than a 100 still held hostage in Gaza.

Abbas reiterated the need to establish a Palestinian state that would include Gaza, West Bank and Jerusalem, and to recognize the state of Palestine at the United Nations.

The president requoted EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell’s comparison of the dire state of Gaza to German cities during World War II.

The Palestinian Authority leader also warned of Israel turning to the West Bank after the war ends in Gaza.

The Gaza war will be a highly discussed topic at the WEF summit, even as official negotiations are underway elsewhere between Israel, Qatar and Egypt. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to arrive in Riyadh as the administration of US President Joe Biden continues its efforts to resolve the crisis.