JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinians marked the fifth anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat.
At a rally Wednesday at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas said peace talks with Israel would not restart until Israel halts all building in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. The Palestinians remain committed to a two-state solution, he said.
"A Palestinian state is a truth recognized by the world, and we are now leading a battle to have its border recognized," Abbas told a crowd of about 100,000 Fatah supporters at the rally.
It is the first large Fatah event since Abbas announced last week that he would resign as head of the Palestinian Authority.
In Gaza, Abbas’ Fatah movement accused Hamas of arresting its members in order to prevent them from marking the anniversary of Arafat’s death, Reuters reported. Fatah had not planned any public memorial events in Gaza.
Arafat, who led the Fatah Party and the Palestine Liberation Organization for decades, died at the age of 75 in a French hospital. The Palestinians have accused Israel of assassinating Arafat but have no evidence to back the claim. Israel has denied it had anything to do with Arafat’s death.
