Abbas: There can be no peace in Middle East without Palestinian state

PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s office says peace in the Middle East is not possible without an Israeli-Palestinian accord, in his first response to the normalization of ties between Israel and the UAE and between Israel and Bahrain in Washington earlier today.

“The main problem is not between the countries that signed the agreements and the Israeli occupation authority, but with the Palestinian people who are suffering under occupation,” Abbas says, according to the official Wafa news agency.

The statement, according to Wafa, continues: “The leadership warned, once again, that no peace, security or stability will be achieved for anyone in the region without ending the occupation and the Palestinian people achieving their full rights as stipulated in the international legitimacy resolutions.

It also warned that “attempts to bypass the Palestinian people and their leadership represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization will have serious repercussions, for which the US administration and the Israeli occupation authority will bear responsibility.”