Ramallah, September 30 (RHC)-- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says Israel is pursuing the ultimate destruction of Palestine, citing the examples of the efforts made by Tel Aviv toward the realization of the goal. “It (Israel) employs policies aimed at destroying what’s left of Palestine,” Abbas wrote in an opinion piece published in The Huffington Post on Tuesday. “Israel demolishes our homes, swallows up our land and works at breaking the spirit and will of our people.” Abbas referred to the move by Tel Aviv to set up checkpoints and build an “annexation wall” in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank thus imposing restriction on Palestinians’ movement. “Israeli forces and leaders aid extremist attacks and religious zealots’ attempts to assert control over Al Aqsa Mosque and ignite a religious conflict,” said Abbas. He was referring to the recent wave of violence that has seen Israeli settlers and soldiers attacking Palestinian worshipers in the compound of the al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, following the deployment of Israeli troops to the area for the Jewish Rosh Hashanah New Year holiday. Mahmoud Abbas also said: “Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continue to suffer the wounds of last year’s barbaric war as Israel’s cruel blockade imprisons the entire population and renders the Strip uninhabitable.”