Palestinian Authority Leader Partly Blames Hamas for Ongoing War in Gaza

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (R) at the Muqata in Ramallah in the West Bank on Nov. 5, 2023. Jonathan Ernst/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA), blamed the Hamas terrorist group for the ongoing war in Gaza and asked it to prioritize national interests over conflict. The PA controls parts of the West Bank that aren’t directly controlled by Israel.

Mr. Abbas said that Israel and the United States were responsible for committing a “massacre” of civilians in the Khan Younis region of Gaza in an attack aimed at Hamas leaders, according to a July 13 article citing a press statement in the official Palestinian News & Information Agency. Mr. Abbas also placed the blame partly on Hamas for inciting the conflict.

“Given Hamas’ evasion of national unity and offering pretexts to the occupation state, the [PA] Presidency considers that Hamas shares the legal, moral and political responsibility for the ongoing genocidal war against the Strip along with all ensuing suffering, destruction and killing,” the article says.

While the Palestinian Authority governs in the West Bank regions, Hamas controls Gaza. The two organizations differ in their objectives. Mr. Abbas supports a two-state solution to the conflict and recognizes Israel. In contrast, Hamas has repeatedly committed to destroying the Jewish state.

After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the territory was handed to the Palestinian Authority. However, within two years, Hamas had gained control of the region through local elections, and there haven’t been elections since.

The PA president “called on the Hamas movement to give precedence to the Palestinian supreme national interests.”

The July 13 attack by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip led to the death of at least 90 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, run by Hamas. Hamas doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its death toll.

President Abbas put the blame on the United States, pointing out that Washington is supplying weapons to Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that the attack harmed civilians, without providing numbers.

The attack was conducted in the Khan Younis region where Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing, was allegedly hiding. Mr. Deif was the man who “planned and gave the order for the attack on October 7th,” IDF Chief of the General Staff LTG Herzi Halevi stated.

“Mohammed Deif was afraid to die, so he hid in a way that even damaged his ability to command. He hid and sacrificed with him his people and civilians who were in the area, who were in danger, very few of whom were harmed,” he said.

The current war was triggered when Hamas attacked Israel by land, sea, and air on Oct. 7, 2023, killing roughly 1,200 Israelis and foreign workers, mostly citizens, and taking several hundred more as hostages. Israel retaliated with a military incursion, with the goal of wiping out the terror group.

Potential Cease-Fire

President Biden recently suggested that an Israel–Hamas cease-fire could soon become a reality.

“Six weeks ago, I laid out a comprehensive framework for how to achieve a ceasefire and bring the hostages home,” he said in a June 12 post on social media platform X. “There is still work to do and these are complex issues, but that framework is now agreed to by both Israel and Hamas. My team is making progress and I’m determined to get this done.”

According to the proposed terms, the first phase of the framework involves at least six weeks of temporary cease-fire. During this time, Israel is required to pull out from populated regions in Gaza and release all detained Palestinians, while Hamas is expected to release all its civilian hostages.

In the second phase, Hamas is required to release all the remaining hostages, mainly captured Israeli military personnel. In exchange, the cease-fire would become permanent and Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

The final phase involves Israel permitting reconstruction activities in the Gaza Strip and Hamas returning the remains of any hostages it killed during the conflict.

Keir Starmer, the new prime minister of the United Kingdom, is also backing a cease-fire in the region. Mr. Starmer recently spoke with Mr. Abbas.

“The prime minister updated President Abbas on his immediate priorities, including securing a ceasefire, the return of hostages, an increase and acceleration in humanitarian aid and financial support for the Palestinian Authority,” a UK spokesperson said.

The British prime minister also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, emphasizing a “clear and urgent need for a ceasefire.”

On July 11, Mr. Netanyahu’s office said that any cease-fire framework should allow Israel to continue fighting until all its objectives of the war are achieved.

Mr. Netanyahu has stated that his goal for the war since the beginning has been to eliminate Hamas, free all hostages, and ensure no new threat to Israel exists in the Gaza Strip.