The Palestinian people will continue to strive "for an independent state with Holy Jerusalem as its capital," Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat said in a press conference in Ramallah Thursday morning.

Arafat called the conference following Wednesday night's press conference in the White House in which US President George W. Bush expressed his full support of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral withdrawal plan from the Gaza Strip and four other West Bank settlements.

The Palestinians have a right to return to their homeland, Arafat said, thus countering Bush's statement that the refugees would be resettled only in the areas of a future Palestinian State and not within the boundaries of Israel.

"Israeli crimes will be faced with more resistance to force Israeli occupiers and herds of settlers to leave Palestinian land," Arafat said.

Arafat threatened that Palestinian "resistance" will continue, and said that Israel will not achieve security as long as it continues the occupation of Palestinian territories and the assassination of Palestinian leaders, referring to the assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin last month.

Prior to Arafat's press conference, the Palestinian leadership held an emergency meeting in the Mukata headquarters in Ramallah to discuss the outcome of the meeting between Bush and Sharon.

The Organization of Islamic Conference plan to hold an emergency meeting in the near future to discuss the latest developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following the meeting in Washington between Sharon and Bush.

Arafat requested the OIC to hold the special meeting prior to the organization's planned meeting schedueled for next month.