Hamas authorities reportedly prevented a Gazan father from naming his baby after the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying the name was “forbidden” in Gaza.
Gaza resident Fayiz Badran, 32, wanted to name his newborn after Abbas due to his “love and appreciation” for the president, the Palestinian news site Wattan24, affiliated with Abbas’s Fatah party, reported Thursday.
However, when Badran recently took his baby to Hamas’s interior ministry headquarters in the north of the enclave, authorities told him the name Mahmoud Abbas is “rejected and forbidden in the Gaza Strip.”
According to the report, Badran said the authorities told him he could name his son either Abbas or Mahmoud, but not both together.
Badran, who the report noted is an employee of the PA, reportedly remains steadfast in his quest to name his child after the PA president.
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Hamas ousted Abbas’ Fatah party from Gaza in 2007 and numerous attempts to reconcile the rival parties have failed.
The Gazan father accused Hamas of hypocrisy, claiming that in recent days the authorities in Gaza had allowed children to be name after Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, former Hamas spiritual leader Ahmad Yassin, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
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