Palestinian President Abbas vows to visit Gaza amid war

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he plans to visit Gaza — even as Israel continues to bomb the besieged enclave where more than 40,000 people have been killed.

"I have decided to head with the Palestinian Authority members to Gaza. I will exert every effort so we can all be with our people to stop this barbaric aggression even if it costs us our lives," Abbas said while addressing the Turkish Parliament on Thursday during an extraordinary session called to show support for the Palestinian cause.

The Palestinian president added that he would also visit Jerusalem without specifying when the visits would take place.

Highlighting Israel's attacks on Palestinian territories, particularly Gaza, Abbas stressed that the "Palestinian people stand against the ‘Zionist movement’ that seeks to control the entire region."

Abbas also said that Palestine "highly appreciates" Türkiye’s strong stance in rejecting and condemning Israel's "genocidal war against Palestinians," welcoming Türkiye's bid to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Unlike the US Congress, the Turkish Parliament applauded "not the murderers, but the heroes who resisted and became martyrs for their homeland," Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan said in a statement on X following Abbas's speech.

"As Türkiye, we will continue to be the voice of Palestine against those who value their own interests more than the life of an innocent child," she added.

Accused of genocide

Calling on the international community to take urgent and effective action toward an immediate and permanent ceasefire, Abbas urged "all to stand with us in liberating more than 10,000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails."

"Gaza, East Jerusalem, and West Bank are one geographical unit that forms an independent Palestinian state according to international laws," he further stressed.

Turkish Communications Director Fahrettin Altun applauded the Palestinian president's "historic" speech and vowed that Türkiye "will continue to stand by Palestine and resolutely support their just cause, as it has always done."

"Our struggle will continue until Palestine is completely free," Altun stressed.

Tel Aviv has faced international condemnation for flouting a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire.

Israeli military has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities.

More than ten months into Israel's relentless war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its attacks in the southern city of Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians had sought refuge.