PA condemns Orlando attack as ‘senseless act of terror and hate’
President Abbas, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah send condolences to US victims of Florida rampage
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
The Palestinian Authority on Monday condemned the shooting rampage in an Orlando gay club, in which 50 people were killed, as a “senseless act of terror and hate.”
“The Government of Palestine condemns this senseless act of terror and hate in Orlando, Florida. Our heartfelt condolences to all the grieving families, relatives and friends of the victims. Palestinians stand with the American people in this difficult time,” said Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in a statement.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas also sent a letter of condolence to US President Barack Obama, the official Wafa news agency reported.
Also Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again sent condolences to the families of the victims and said “we are all shocked by the horrific massacre in Orlando.”
Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said, “This terror threatens the entire world and it is necessary – first of all – that the enlightened countries urgently unite to fight it. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the American people.”
Obama, Pope Francis and Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday led global condemnation after a gunman went on a rampage at a gay nightclub in Florida.
The pontiff condemned the killings as “homicidal folly and senseless hatred” while Obama described them as “an act of terror and an act of hate.”
According to a tweet from the British royal family’s official account, the queen was “shocked” by the attack, adding that the monarch and her husband’s “thoughts & prayers are with all those who have been affected.”
The attack, in which a gunman opened fire in a packed nightclub in Orlando, Florida, is the worst mass shooting in US history.
In a letter to Obama, President Reuven Rivlin on Monday sent his condolences and said there is “no comfort for those who have had their loved ones torn away from them.”
The Orlando attack has dominated news in Israel, which has seen a wave of Palestinian terror attacks in recent months.
On Wednesday two Palestinian gunmen killed four people at a popular shopping and restaurant area in Tel Aviv. Following the deadly shooting at the Sarona complex, the office of Abbas on Thursday expressed a general rejection of violence against civilians, though it didn’t specifically condemn the previous day’s deadly terror attack in Tel Aviv
The Times of Israel Community.