Palestinian President calls Hamas “sons of dogs”, demand release of hostages, disarmament of group

Ramallah [
Palestine
], April 24 (ANI):
Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas
has called
Hamas
“sons of dogs” and called for the disarmament of the group and the release of the
Israel
i hostages, CNN reported.

He called for stopping the ”
Israel
i genocide that the
Gaza Strip
is being subjected to” a top priority. He said that the hostages present an excuse for
Israel
to attack the
Gaza Strip
.

In a televised speech from Ramallah on Wednesday, Abbas said, “Sons of dogs, release the hostages and block their justifications.”

Israel
has rejected accusations of genocide, stressing that it is fighting the war in Gaza in self-defence and targets
Hamas
.

Abbas’ remarks are the strongest public criticism of
Hamas
to date and come amid a renewed push to advance ceasefire negotiations between
Israel
and
Hamas
, with Egypt also suggesting the disarmament of the group recently, CNN reported.

Abbas has not outrightly condemned
Hamas
‘ October 7 attack on
Israel
, however, he has slammed
Hamas
for it in the past and reiterated his condemnation of attacks against civilians.

He also outlined a vision to create a Palestinian state and demanded an end to the war in Gaza and renewed calls for the unification of Palestinian political factions under the umbrella of the
Palestine
Liberation Organisation (PLO). He also called for the withdrawal of
Israel
i forces from Gaza.

He said, ”
Hamas
must end its control over the
Gaza Strip
, hand over all its affairs to the
Palestine
Liberation Organisation and the legitimate Palestinian National Authority, and refrain from carrying arms, transforming into a political party that operates according to the laws of the Palestinian state and adheres to international legitimacy.”

In his address, Abbas accused
Hamas
of inflicting “severe damage to the Palestinian cause” since it took control of the
Gaza Strip
in 2007.

He said, “It has provided the occupation (
Israel
) with dangerous free services, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and allowed this criminal occupation to find free justifications for executing its conspiracies and crimes in the
Gaza Strip
, with one of the most prominent excuses being hostage-taking.”

In response,
Hamas
rejected claims made by Abbas and questioned his “competence,” saying that he “insists, repeatedly and suspiciously, on placing the responsibility for the crimes of the occupation and its ongoing aggression on our Palestinian people.”

Mahmoud Abbas
urged the international community to implement past UN Security Resolutions and hold an international peace conference, according to CNN report.

Hamas
and
Fatah
have a long history of bitter enmity. The two sides have tried and failed multiple times to reach an agreement to unite the two separate territories of
Palestine
under one governance structure. Since then,
Hamas
has governed Gaza while the PA governs parts of the West Bank.

Until 2007, the PA held administrative control over Gaza.
Hamas
secured a win in the 2006 legislative elections in the occupied areas and expelled it from the
Gaza Strip
. Since then,
Hamas
has governed Gaza, and the PA governs the territories of the West Bank, CNN reported.

Hamas
and
Fatah
signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo in October 2017. According to the deal, a new unity government was expected to take administrative control of Gaza after two months. However, aspirations of a deal collapsed when PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah visited Gaza in 2018.

Hamdallah was the target of an assassination attempt when a bomb detonated near his convoy. Following the attack,
Fatah
immediately blamed
Hamas
for it. In July last year,
Hamas
and
Fatah
signed an agreement on “ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity.” (ANI)