Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas vows to visit Gaza, says ‘our life is not more worthy’ than a child’s

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told a special session of the Turkish parliament on Thursday (August 15) that he would travel to Gaza, while adding, "Our life is not more worthy than the life of a child."

Abbas said this as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported that the death toll in the Israeli assaults so far has crossed 40,000.

I'll go to Gaza: Abbas

To thunderous applause from Turkish lawmakers, Abbas said, "I have decided to go to Gaza with other brothers from the Palestinian leadership."

He said he would do that "even if this would cost my life".

"Our life is not more worthy than the life of a child," he added.

Abbas, the leader of the Fatah Palestinian movement, a rival to Hamas as per AFP, is based in Ramallah in the West Bank.

The Gaza Strip is controlled by Hamas, who took power in 2007. Nobody apart from a handful of humanitarian workers is allowed to visit the Palestinian group-controlled territory.

Abbas, as per AFP, has not visited the Gaza Strip since 2007.

"Gaza is ours as a whole," stressed Abbas, adding, "We don't accept any solution that would divide our territories," he told the Turkish parliament he was addressing during a special session.

"There cannot be a Palestinian state without Gaza. Our people will not surrender," he promised.

Abbas prays for assassinated Hamas leaderHaniyeh

Abbas also commemorated Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran, from the Turkish parliament floor.

He said prayers for the assassinated leader, whose picture, framed by red carnations, was seated in one of the front chairs in the parliament.

Ismail Haniyeh, as per the report, was a frequent visitor to Turkey and had close ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been a fierce critic of Israeli conduct in the war in Gaza. He has even labelled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "the butcher of Gaza".

Commending Erdogan's "courageous" stance, Abbas also slammed the international community for its silence on the massacres carried out by Israel.

(With inputs from agencies)