Abbas blames Hamas for Gaza war; terror group says PA siding with Israel
Rival Palestinian factions spar after dozens killed in strike targeting arch-terrorist Deif; Hamas says Fatah is a ‘partner to the Zionist enemy,’ despite Abbas condemning Israel
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Hamas on Saturday for the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, in a back-and-forth which saw the terror group condemn Abbas for siding with Israel.
The exchange signaled rising tensions between Abbas’s Fatah faction and the Islamist terrorist group, who in the past have unsuccessfully attempted to reconcile.
The spat began after an Israeli attack in Gaza on Saturday aimed at Hamas military chief Mohammad Deif and his aide, which left at least 90 Palestinians dead and 300 injured, according to unverifiable reports by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry; Israeli military sources say the strike targeted a Hamas compound, where dozens of Hamas gunmen were gathered.
While it remained unclear whether Deif was killed in the strike, the IDF on Sunday confirmed the death of his deputy, Rafa’a Salameh.
In response to the attack, PA official Munir Al-Jaghoub said in an interview with the Saudi al-Arabiya outlet, “If Hamas wanted to fight face-to-face with Israel, it would’ve done so in areas where the army is located, and not in places where there are people. Hamas is actually hiding between the residents to protect and save itself.”
Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha called on Fatah to condemn Al-Jaghoub’s statement, according to Palestinian media.
“You must cease promoting the false narratives of Israel and align with our people in their decisive and steadfast battle against barbaric attacks,” he said.
Instead, Abbas put out a statement saying he “sees that by escaping national unity and providing free pretexts to the occupation state, the Hamas movement is a partner in bearing legal, moral, and political responsibility for the continuation of the Israeli war of genocide in the Gaza Strip.”
But the Palestinian Information Center reported that the PA indeed condemned Al-Jaghoub’s criticism of Hamas, who in turn apologized and asked that his statements be retracted.
The terror group has been accused of prolonging the war by refusing to surrender and release the hostages kidnapped on October 7, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that Abbas’s statement indicated that the Palestinian Authority “has chosen to be in the same trench with the occupation.”
“Such an attitude will not succeed in blackmailing the resistance or pressuring it,” Abu Zuhri said.
Another Hamas leader, Bassem Naim, was quoted by Reuters as saying Abbas’s comments made him and his authority “partner to the Zionist enemy and its crimes not only in Gaza, but also in all of the Palestinian land.”
The PA leader did, however, condemn Israel and the US for their role in the destruction caused in Gaza, saying in the statement that he “holds the Israeli government fully responsible, also the US administration that provides all kinds of support to the occupation and its crimes.”
Since the war broke out, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 38,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 326.
Hamas has run Gaza since its violent 2007 takeover of the coastal territory from Abbas loyalists.
Efforts by Arab mediators, led by Egypt, have so far failed to reconcile power struggles between the two rival factions, though in recent months both China and Russia have hosted representatives from the Palestinian groups for unity talks.
