Abbas: No longer acceptable to live in perpetual state of war

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke at the international donors conference in Cairo on Sunday about Gaza's need for four billion dollars in aid to rehabilitate the coastal territory, following 50 days of fighting between Hamas and Israel. He said he believed the international community would rise to the occasion and provide much-needed funds for reconstruction, reiterating the need to adopt a resolution that imposes a time frame on Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank.It was no longer acceptable to live in a state of repeated wars, Abbas said as he laid out the recent battles plaguing Gaza – three in six years – and the fallen victims (3,760) and demolished homes (80,000) that followed. Thanking Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for his efforts to achieve an agreement and help promote the Palestinian cause, Abbas said the PA would continue to work closely with Egypt on reaching a lasting truce. As for the situation in the West Bank, the PA chief said that Israel's continued settlement activity was harmful to the economy and deprived the Palestinians from developing large chunks of the West Bank."There must be an international approach" to ending the decades-old conflict, Abbas stated, which must include a Palestinian state.