PA: Gaza is our land, Israel has no right to interfere in it

Palestinian woman Fatima Aqel, 75, on the outskirts of Jerusalem holds keys to one of the houses appearing in the background that her family was forced to abandon upon the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 on 7 May, 2008 [AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images]

Gaza is an integral part of the Palestinian state and cannot be separated from it, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Palestinian presidential adviser, said yesterday.

In a phone interview with Al-Qahira Al-Ikhbariya, Al-Habbash said any discussions to separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank are unacceptable.

Organising Palestinian internal affairs is the responsibility of the Palestinians, not the occupying government, he added, stressing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no right to determine the future of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Al-Habbash stressed that the Palestinians are the rightful inhabitants of these lands and that managing the internal situation in Gaza is their national duty. He affirmed the Palestinians’ commitment to international legitimacy and their desire for the precise and faithful implementation of international decisions to ensure the end of the occupation and the application of political justice in the Palestinian territories.

READ: PA will not accept or allow ‘foreign presence’ on Palestinian land

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