عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Palestinian President Flies to Germany for Medical Checkup

President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 18, 2020. (Reuters)
President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 18, 2020. (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Palestinian President Flies to Germany for Medical Checkup

President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 18, 2020. (Reuters)
President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 18, 2020. (Reuters)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas flew to Germany on Monday for a medical checkup, Palestinian officials said.

Abbas, 85, has long been in poor health and was admitted to hospital with pneumonia in 2018. A heavy smoker, he was also treated in a US hospital the same year during a trip to address the UN Security Council.

Abbas flew by Jordanian helicopter from his Ramallah headquarters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to Amman, where he made a brief comment on the recent developments in Jordan.

“When these events occurred, we saw the whole world, without exception, standing by Jordan and by His Majesty, and this is evidence of the great respect and great interest in this peaceful and secure country,” Abbas said in televised remarks.

His comments were broadcast by the official Palestinian TV channel.

Palestinian political and security affairs are heavily intertwined with neighboring Jordan, where more than 2 million registered Palestinian refugees live. Jordan’s Hashemite ruling family is also the custodian of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem.

In January, Abbas called presidential and parliamentary elections for later this year in what was widely seen as attempt to restore his democratic mandate and reset relations with Washington.

Most Viewed

 
Arab World

Palestinian Central Council Demands that Hamas Cede Control of Gaza

Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)
Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)
TT
20
TT

Palestinian Central Council Demands that Hamas Cede Control of Gaza

Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)
Officials are seen at the meeting in Ramallah. (EPA)

The Palestinian Central Committee called on Hamas on Friday to cede control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority.

The council held its 32nd meeting in Ramallah that created the position of vice president in a first since 1964.

In a closing statement, the council stressed that decisions of war and peace and negotiations cannot be held by a faction or party, but these affairs are national concerns, reported the Palestinian official news agency (WAFA).

Moreover, it said that “peaceful popular resistance is the only way to achieve national goals.”

It underlined the need to unify Palestinian territories and their political, administrative and judicial systems.

Priority now, however, lies in “ending the Israeli aggression and genocide against our people in Gaza... and in rejecting the displacement of the Palestinians and attempt to annex their territories,” it added.

“Our people are committed to just and permanent peace based on the relevant international resolutions,” continued the council.

It tasked the executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization to follow up on every regional and international effort to that end.

It also tasked the committee with launching a national dialogue that would reach national consensus that would establish the PLO as the sole legal representative of the Palestinian people.

The dialogue must prioritize a political solution that calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The council also stressed the Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homeland from where they were forcibly displaced in 1948, which is in line with United Nations General Assembly resolution 194.

For its part, Hamas slammed the council decision to establish the position of vice president, saying it only deepens the Palestinian division and promotes unilateral decision-making.

It described the council meeting as “disappointing” and that it “had not met its aspirations to achieve real unity that is needed to confront the ongoing genocide in Gaza and Israeli escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

Hamas noted that main factions boycotted the meeting in rejection of attempts to monopolize decisions and the “coup against the spirit of national partnership.”

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine boycotted the meeting.

Hamas called for the “rebuilding” of the PLO and holding comprehensive elections, saying they were the “only means to restore unity.”