Palestinians bicker over Egypt response

Earlier today, PA President Mahmoud Abbas called on Palestinians not to intervene in the internal affairs of Egypt.

“We respect the will of the Egyptian people and hope that Egypt exits these trying times stronger so that it may continue leading the Arab world,” Abbas said according to official PA news agency WAFA.

But Hamas understood this statement as a backhanded critique of its policies, as independent Egyptian media has long accused Hamas of intervening in the Egyptian revolution and colluding with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hamas official Salah Bardawil called the PA statement “cheap opportunism,” adding that “Hamas has never and will never intervene in the internal affairs of any Arab country,” the Palestinian Information Center, a Hamas news agency, reported.

(Elhanan Miller)