Mahmoud Abbas holds Israel accountable for violence against Palestinians

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says the Israeli-triggered violence in the occupied territories is the result of crimes against Palestinians committed by Israel and the failure of the international community to stop Tel Aviv’s aggression.

Abbas made the remark in a special one-hour meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on the Israeli aggression against Palestinians over the past few weeks in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday.

The Palestinian president censured the Israeli regime for acting “above international law,” adding that it has recently increased its “criminal practices to the point where it performed extrajudicial killings of defenseless Palestinian civilians, (and) detained their corpses, including children.”

Referring to an intense diplomatic effort launched to calm the tensions, the Palestinian president said, “It is no longer useful to waste time in negotiations.” What is needed, Abbas added, “is the ending of occupation.”

He also called for the creation of a “special regime” for the protection of Palestinians against Israeli atrocities.

Abbas urged the United Nations to “set up a special regime for international protection for the Palestinian people, immediately and urgently.”

He also called on the UN, especially the UN Security Council, as well as the member states to shoulder their responsibility regarding the issue of Palestine.

Abbas said the international community should help to “stop these daily crimes committed against my people.”

‘Catastrophe’ in the making

The comments come as the UN also warned on Wednesday that the deadly Israeli aggression against Palestinians is headed toward “catastrophe.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al Hussein said the latest spike in violence was “dangerous in the extreme.”

“The violence between Palestinians and the Israelis will draw us ever closer to a catastrophe if not stopped immediately,” he said during the meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.

The Israeli regime’s imposition in August of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) has triggered the latest wave of violence in the Palestinian territories.

Palestinians are also angry at increasing violence by illegal Israeli settlers, who frequently storm the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Palestinians say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the compound.

On Tuesday, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), carrying posters with pictures of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in recent weeks. The protesters were angry at the Israeli regime’s move to withhold the bodies of Palestinians from al-Khalil killed this month.

Israel refrains from returning the bodies in order to prevent mass protests that usually follow the funerals of Palestinian victims of Israeli violence.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 64 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of October. Some 7,100 others have also sustained injuries.

Visit to al-Aqsa despite Netanyahu ban

Meanwhile, in a separate development on Wednesday, a Palestinian member of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, visited the al-Aqsa Mosque compound despite a ban ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Basel Ghattas, who is a Christian member of the Knesset, wrote in a message posted on his Facebook page that his visit was meant to send Netanyahu a message.

“This morning I entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque in spite of Netanyahu,” Ghattas said, adding, “Israel does not control who is banned from entering the mosque, and continues to change the status quo.”

Earlier this month, the Israeli prime minister banned all members of the Knesset as well as ministers from entering the compound.

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