Palestine's leader tells Trump ready to work for Gaza peace

Palestine's President Mahmud Abbas (R) and US President-elect Donald Trump (L). (Photo/Reuters Archive)

Palestine's President Mahmud Abbas has expressed readiness to work towards a "just and comprehensive peace" in Gaza during a phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump, his office said.

Congratulating Trump on his victory, Abbas on Friday expressed "readiness to work with President Trump to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on international legitimacy," his office said in a statement.

It said that Trump also assured Abbas that he will work to end Israel's war on Gaza.

"President Trump stressed that he will work to stop the war, and his readiness to work with president Abbas and the concerned parties in the region and the world to make peace in the region."

"We are confident that the United States will support, under your leadership, the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people," Abbas said in a statement, reaffirming the Palestinian commitment to "the pursuit of freedom, self-determination and statehood, in accordance with international law."

Trump's victory came amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and Lebanon.

While Trump struck a note of peace and vowed to end all wars in Middle East during his election campaign, he also touted his status as Israel's strongest ally.

Trump defeated his Democratic challenger Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday's presidential election. He will be officially inaugurated on January 20.

Genocidal war

Israel has continued a devastating war on Gaza since October last year despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.

Israel has killed more than 43,500 Palestinians so far, 70 percent of them women and children, and over 102,700 others wounded, according to local health authorities. But analysts say it's only a conservative estimate and the actual death toll could be as high as 200,000.

More than 10,000 Palestinians are said to have been buried alive under tonnes of debris of bombed homes.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Netanyahu's refusal to halt the war.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

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Source: TRT