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Abbas to Putin: We Can't Accept Israel's Plans to Divide or Separate Gaza

Russian President Vladimir Putin receiving his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in the Kremlin (File photo: AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin receiving his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in the Kremlin (File photo: AP)
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Abbas to Putin: We Can't Accept Israel's Plans to Divide or Separate Gaza

Russian President Vladimir Putin receiving his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in the Kremlin (File photo: AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin receiving his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in the Kremlin (File photo: AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has insisted that Gaza is an integral part of Palestine and cannot be separated or subjected to the Israeli occupation's plans for division.

In a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Abbas emphasized that Gaza remains the responsibility of Palestine.

The President underscored the necessity of intervening to stop the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

He emphasized the need to release Palestinian tax funds, currently withheld by Israel, and reiterated that Gaza remains the responsibility of Palestine.

Sputnik news agency said Putin invited Abbas to visit Russia and stressed the importance of "ending the bloodshed" in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible and resuming the political settlement process in the Palestinian territories.

On Friday, the European Commission said it had adopted a $130 million aid package to support the Palestinian Authority.

The commission said the aid would help pay salaries and pensions of civil servants in the West Bank, social allowances for vulnerable families, and the payment for medical referrals to East Jerusalem hospitals.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is also ready to continue helping the Palestinian Authority in the longer term.

"We are reflecting on a wider mid-term package for next year to contribute to the economic and political stability of Gaza and the West Bank, once conditions allow on the ground, as part of wider international efforts to reinstate a two-state solution," von der Leyen said.

For 2024, the EU has also set aside 125 million euros in humanitarian aid for people in the besieged Gaza Strip, where EU commissioner Josep Borrell said food shortages had reached unprecedented levels.

"This is a grave development and should be a wakeup call for the whole world to act now to prevent a deadly human catastrophe," the EU's top diplomat said.

"Aid needs to reach those in need through all necessary means, including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs."

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Jerusalem Patriarch Hails Pope’s Commitment to Gaza

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
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Jerusalem Patriarch Hails Pope’s Commitment to Gaza

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks during a press conference at the Latin Catholic patriarchate at the Old City of Jerusalem, 22 April 2025. (EPA)

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Tuesday hailed Pope Francis's support for Gazans and engagement with the small Catholic community in the war-battered Palestinian territory.

The Catholic church's highest authority in the region, who is considered a potential successor to the late pontiff, Pizzaballa told journalists in Jerusalem that "Gaza represents, a little bit, all what was the heart of his pontificate".

Pope Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, advocated peace and "closeness to the poor... and to the neglected one", said the patriarch.

These positions became particularly evident in Francis's response to the Israel-Hamas war which broke out in October 2023, Pizzaballa said.

"He was very close to the community of Gaza, the parish of Gaza, he kept calling them many times -- for a certain period, also every day, every evening at 7 pm," said the patriarch.

He added that by doing so, the pope "became for the community something stable, and also comforting for them, and he knew this".

Out of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people, about 1,000 are Christians. Most of them are Orthodox, but according to the Latin Patriarchate, there are about 135 Catholics in the territory.

Since the early days of the war, members of the Catholic community have been sheltering at Holy Family Church compound in Gaza City, and some Orthodox Christians have also found refuge there.

Pope Francis repeatedly called for an end to the war. The day before his death, in a final Easter message delivered on Sunday, he condemned the "deplorable humanitarian situation" in the besieged territory.

"Work for justice... but without becoming part of the conflict," said Pizzaballa of the late pontiff's actions.

"For us, for the Church, it leaves an important legacy."

The patriarch thanked the numerous Palestinian and Israeli public figures who have offered their condolences, preferring not to comment on the lack of any official message from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Even as "the local authorities... were not always happy" with the pope's positions or statements, they were "always very respectful", he said.

Pizzaballa said he will travel to Rome on Wednesday, after leading a requiem mass for the pope at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in the morning.

As one of the 135 cardinal electors, the Latin patriarch will participate in the conclave to elect a new pope.

Pizzaballa, a 60-year-old Italian Franciscan who also speaks English and Hebrew, arrived in Jerusalem in 1990 and was made a cardinal in September 2023, just before the Gaza war began.

His visits to Gaza and appeals for peace since then have attracted international attention.