GAZA, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas Saturday was optimistic the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip was the first step towards Palestinian statehood.
Abbas told reporters in Gaza the withdrawal from the area was a prelude "to ending the Israeli occupation of all the Palestinian territories and a first step towards the establishment of the independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital."
He said with the withdrawal from Gaza, "there will no longer be obstacles, checkpoints or anything that will obstruct the movement of people, where people will live in comfort and calmness."
Abbas, who was on a tour of schools in Gaza, told the students the Palestinians did not have natural resources or oil wells, but "our most valuable resources on which we depend are the people. That's why we want to build this human being, so that our country will be among the most elevated."
