Hamas wary over ’emotional’ Abbas UN speech

GAZA CITY — Hamas was reserved Wednesday over Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s declaration to the UN General Assembly that his side could not remain the only one committed to peace agreements with Israel.

“The speech was emotional, and will be judged by how long it takes him to implement his commitment to end the agreements with the Israeli occupation,” Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for the Islamist terror movement that rules the Gaza Strip, told AFP.

Abbas had appealed for “those countries that have not yet recognized the state of Palestine to do so,” and warned of what could be understood as being a withdrawal from the Oslo accords of the 1990s.

“They leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements, while Israel continually violates them,” Abbas said.

“We cannot continue to be bound by these signed agreements with Israel and Israel must assume fully all its responsibilities as an occupying power.”

At a ceremony following the speech the Palestinians raised their flag at the United Nations for the first time.

Hamas and Fatah, the party headed by Abbas, are deeply divided.