Palestinian leader says Hamas caused war, doubts future of unity government
7 replies, posted
[QUOTE]alestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Hamas on Friday for needlessly extending fighting with Israel in the Gaza Strip, casting doubt on the future of the Palestinian unity government that the Islamic militant group backs.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]"It was possible for us to avoid all of that, 2,000 martyrs, 10,000 injured, 50,000 houses (destroyed)," Abbas told Palestine TV in remarks broadcast Friday. He said Hamas had insisted on discussing demands first before ending the war, which only served to prolong the violence.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]"The Egyptian formula was on the table on July 15th, it was backed by the Arab League, it was accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas then and now more than a month later has belatedly been accepted by Hamas," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said.
"As the dust clears from the conflict I'm sure many people in Gaza will be asking why did Hamas reject a month ago what it accepted today, and if it had accepted then what it accepted now, how much bloodshed could have been avoided."[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/08/29/palestinian-leader-says-hamas-caused-prolonged-war/14808007/"]http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/08/29/palestinian-leader-says-hamas-caused-prolonged-war/14808007/[/URL] (originally from AP)
In other news, Abbas tells the emir of Qatar that:
[QUOTE]Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas is reported to have complained to the emir of Qatar during their recent meetings in Doha about Hamas’s attempt to stage a coup against his regime in the West Bank.
The Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar published on Monday what it said was the protocol of the meeting between Abbas and the emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]The protocol quotes Abbas as [B]accusing Hamas of being behind the abduction and murder of the three Israeli teenagers[/B] in the West Bank last June in order to “strike at the Palestinian national project.”[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]“Why do they want a coup?” Abbas was quoted as telling the emir of Qatar. “Where’s the partnership between us? Where are we headed? Why this Iranian method of taqqiyah [religious dissimulation]?” He noted that in 2006 Hamas had tried to assassinate him by placing explosives along the route his convoy used in the Gaza Strip.
The protocol also quoted Abbas as saying that Hamas had been conspiring with ousted Fatah leader Mohamed Dahlan to topple him. Dahlan has since been expelled from Fatah and lives in the United Arab Emirates.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Abbas-Hamas-leader-Mashaal-is-a-liar-374113"]http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Abbas-Hamas-leader-Mashaal-is-a-liar-374113[/URL]
[editline]7th September 2014[/editline]
This just in:
Abbas is on a roll this weekend.
There are reports in Israeli media about a press conference he did in Cairo yesterday (Saturday) where he claimed over 850 of the casualties in Gaza were Hamas militants despite Hamas claiming it was only 50, and that Hamas performed atrocities during the war including executing 120 people without trial.
He also threatened to sever all ties with Hamas unless they finally integrate their government and armed forces in Gaza with the Palestinian Authority.
Hebrew source [URL="http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/13/2782869"]here[/URL] (Walla News).
I'll post an international one if and when it shows up.
Okay, more sources.
Strangely, most sources quote Abbas threatening to cut off Hamas, but almost none quote anything to do with his accusations regarding the real number of casualties, or the executions.
See [URL="http://www.livemint.com/Politics/TSrd4D7atSXsARLCsapafP/Mahmoud-Abbas-may-end-unity-with-Hamas-over-Gaza-governance.html"]Livemint[/URL] quoting AFP, [URL="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29099239"]BBC[/URL] and [URL="http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.614481"]Haaretz[/URL].
[URL="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2014/09/abbas-warns-he-may-end-unity-deal-with-hamas-20149794312283293.html"]Aljazeera[/URL] at least mentions Abbas referring to the executions:
[QUOTE]Abbas also accused Hamas of undertaking executions without trial.
Hamas denounced his allegations as "baseless".[/QUOTE]
And, confusingly, the Lebanese [URL="http://www.el-balad.com/1136522"]Elbalad[/URL] does mention the number of casualties, but says Abbas said:
[QUOTE]Abbas claimed that Hamas lost “only” 50 of its men during the war, while 861 men belonging to his Fatah faction were killed. He did not say how the Fatah men were killed and by who.[/QUOTE]
Suggesting there were actually over 900 militants killed, but most of them were Fatah, answering to the Palestinian Authority. Which is a weird thing for Abbas to admit to even if it were true.
[QUOTE=ScumBunny;45914829]
Suggesting there were actually over 900 militants killed, but most of them were Fatah, answering to the Palestinian Authority. Which is a weird thing for Abbas to admit to even if it were true.[/QUOTE]
I'd argue they were soldiers then rather than militants killed.
I'm at risk of coming off sounding petty about definitions but I don't feel like we should classify every Palestinian with a weapon killed by Israel as a militant. It's hardly that black or white.
Personally I feel the people of Palestine have every right to defend their homes.
[editline]7th September 2014[/editline]
I don't think Hamas killed the Israeli teenagers as an orchestrated attack either, but still I would very much love to see the Gaza strip see an alternative to the control they have over it.
[QUOTE=MuTAnT;45914955]I'd argue they were soldiers then rather than militants killed.
I'm at risk of coming off sounding petty about definitions but I don't feel like we should classify every Palestinian with a weapon killed by Israel as a militant. It's hardly that black or white.
Personally I feel the people of Palestine have every right to defend their homes.
[editline]7th September 2014[/editline]
I don't think Hamas killed the Israeli teenagers as an orchestrated attack either, but still I would very much love to see the Gaza strip see an alternative to the control they have over it.[/QUOTE]
It's kind of complicated.
If you're thinking about official Palestinian Authority armed forces than no, there are no PA security forces in Gaza. All Gaza security forces answer directly to Hamas, including the Gaza police.
OTOH there's the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Aqsa_Martyrs'_Brigades"]Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades[/URL], a militant group that's an offshoot of Fatah that does operate in Gaza and [URL="http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Al-Aqsa-Martyrs-Brigades-posts-video-showing-IDF-equipment-370151"]did take part in the fighting[/URL] along with Hamas and the rest of the militant groups there.
However, since the PA officially abandoned the path of "armed resistance" Al-Aqsa don't officially answer to the PA governemnt, which has been known to even [URL="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-authority-arrests-former-militant-zakaria-zubeidi-1.428403"]arrest their leaders[/URL] on occasion.
Meaning it doesn't make sense for Abbas to boast the number of Al-Aqsa militants killed in Gaza, as it would imply he's taking responsibility for the fighting, which goes against his pinning the responsibility of this whole mess on Hamas over and over again.
Unless it's some kind of underhanded dig at Hamas, something like "even though they dragged everyone into this conflict and refused to end it it was mostly Fatah fighters that did the fighting and dying".
Regardless, at least according to Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, these were not heroic soldiers defending Gaza from Israeli aggression but in fact the people responsible for provoking Israel into attacking by murdering the teens and launching rockets into Israel, and then prolonging the conflict by refusing or violating the cease fires they were offered.
Finally, regarding the murder of the teens. If you look at the quotes above than again, according to Abbas Hamas is in fact behind the kidnapping and murder.
This has already been acknowledged by several Hamas leaders (see [URL="http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1419143"]here[/URL]), and Israel is claiming to have proof Hamas [URL="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.609167"]ordered, planned and funded[/URL] the kidnapping in advance.
You didn't do what we wanted so it was your fault
[QUOTE=A_Pigeon;45915299]You didn't do what we wanted so it was your fault[/QUOTE]
They kinda turned the Gaza strip into a rocket launching fortress with people living on top of everything, hopefully this will lead to Hama's being kicked out but I doubt anything more than them not being officially part of the government is going to happen
Hamas doesn't want what Palestinians want. They want to cause mayhem and terror, which happens to work well since the Israelis go over the top on attacking them. That's pretty much whats going on. Hamas starts shit, Israel bombs the fuck out of Gaza killing a lot of civilians, which then causes an outcry.
[QUOTE=Sableye;45915855]They kinda turned the Gaza strip into a rocket launching fortress with people living on top of everything, hopefully this will lead to Hama's being kicked out but I doubt anything more than them not being officially part of the government is going to happen[/QUOTE]
There was a story recently about a Hamas higher-up who talked about, basically, using the people of Gaza as meat shield who got beaten half to death by Palestinians.
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