Mahmoud Abbas has called Hamas “sons of dogs” in a fiery speech in which he demanded the group release the hostages it is still holding, disarm, and hand over control of Gaza in order to end the war with Israel.
The president of the Palestinian Authority told a meeting in the occupied West Bank that Hamas had given Israel “excuses” to continue its attacks on Gaza, and told it to “release the hostages and be done with it”.
Abbas lashed out at Hamas in furious speech to a meeting of the Palestinian Central Council in Ramallah.
“Hamas has given the criminal occupation [Israel] excuses to commit its crimes in the Gaza Strip, the most prominent being the holding of hostages,” he said.
“Sons of dogs, just release whoever you’re holding and be done with it. Shut down their excuses and spare us.”
The president also said Hamas must “hand over” responsibility for Gaza and its weapons to the PA, and transform into a political party.
The remarks were the strongest against the group that the president has delivered since the war began 18 months ago.
A Hamas official condemned what he called Abbas’s “derogatory language” towards “a significant proportion… of his own people”.
A member of Hamas’s political bureau, Bassem Naim, criticised Abbas’s decision to “describe a significant and integral part of his own people using derogatory language”, according to AFP news agency.
“Abbas repeatedly and suspiciously lays the blame for the crimes of the occupation and its ongoing aggression on our people,” he added.
Hamas and the PA have been bitterly divided for decades, with their rift ensuring that no unified Palestinian leadership in both the West Bank and Gaza has been able to emerge.
