ANKARA: Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas told a special session of the Turkish parliament on Thursday that he would travel to Gaza.
He was speaking as health ministry officials in the Hamas-run territory said the death toll from Israel’s assault there had passed 40,000 people.
“I have decided to go to Gaza with other brothers from the Palestinian leadership,” Abbas said to applause from Turkish lawmakers.
Abbas is based in Ramallah in the West Bank, and Gaza Strip is controlled by Palestinian group Hamas.
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Nobody is allowed to enter the enclave, apart from a handful of humanitarian workers. Abbas has not been to Gaza since Hamas took power in 2007.
“I will do that,” Abbas said in remarks translated into Turkish from Arabic. “Even if this would cost my life.
“Our life is not more worthy than the life of a child,” he added.
He was wearing a white scarf decorated by Turkish and Palestinian flags, as were many of the deputies listening to his speech, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Abbas, who added a visit to Turkey after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, said the Palestinian people would stand tall despite the Israeli strikes.
“Gaza is ours as a whole. We don’t accept any solution that would divide our territories,” he told the parliament.
“There cannot be a Palestinian state without Gaza. Our people will not surrender,” he promised.
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