Sky Network in Arabic reported that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas to quickly complete a prisoner deal with Israel in order to avoid an all-out onslaught on the southern city of Rafah.
Abbas placed the blame for the differences preventing a deal on both sides. The PA leader also called on the American government and the "Arab brotherhood" to act seriously to complete the prisoner deal as quickly as possible "to spare the Palestinian people the scourge of this devastating war."
He also added that "the Israeli occupation is waging an open war in the Gaza Strip, which has led to the martyrdom of hundreds of Palestinians every day, in addition to the assault on the West Bank and Jerusalem, and other dangerous Israeli escalation." "Therefore, we must bear our responsibility in stopping the war," stated Abbas.
According to the head of the Authority, "We want to protect our people from the consequences of any serious disaster that may happen to them, and therefore we must make decisions that serve the interests of our people and protect them, so that we can protect our goal and our national interests, by stopping the aggression, and leading to the recognition of the independent state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital."
