Bethlehem – Ma’an – President Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Thursday to spare no effort in supporting Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

“Your suffering is ours – we will continue supporting you. We will offer every possible means of support,” he said, speaking at a ceremony in Ramallah marking the 45th anniversary of the founding of his Fatah movement.

He touted the role of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) in supporting Gazans. He said the PA still pays the salaries of 77,000 employees in Gaza, devoting 55% of its budget to the territory.

He also mentioned that the PA facilitates the entry of foreign aid to Gaza.

Abbas was speaking on the same day as demonstrations marking the one-year anniversary of the Israeli war on Gaza which left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead.

While Abbas is recognized in Gaza as president, he has little power there. In June 2007 the elected Hamas government took full control of Gaza, shutting down security forces loyal to Abbas.

Since then the Strip has been ruled by a de facto Hamas government, with an Abbas-appointed administration in the West Bank.

During his speech Abbas also claimed that Hamas had recently proposed extending both his term and the term of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) by ten years. He said he had rejected this proposal.

“Elections are the best and perhaps the only way for Palestinians to choose the way forward,” he said.

Abbas has in the past been accused of failing to pursue accountability for Israeli leaders in the aftermath of the Gaza attack. Three months ago he caused uproar by ordering his envoy to the UN in Geneva to call for a deferral of a vote on a UN-backed report that accuses Israel of war crimes.