In a speech before supporters yesterday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Hamas for a series of blasts in Gaza last Friday targeting Fatah officials. An explosion also destroyed a stage set up for a ceremony to honor Yasser Arafat on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his death.
“Who committed this crime? The leadership of the Hamas movement did, and it’s responsible!” Abbas roared to applause at a Fatah rally for Arafat in Ramallah, his seat of government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Hamas and Fatah agreed in April to form a reconciliation government, an effort to overcome deep political rifts that date back to 2007, when Hamas seized power in Gaza after a weeks-long civil war with Fatah. …
“These actions delay rebuilding and delay the moving of 100,000 people back into their homes … The one loser is the people – in the war, in the rebuilding and in everything – while you sit in your homes and your hideouts with no concern except to say ‘we’re staying put’,” Abbas fumed, rhetorically addressing Hamas leaders.
The blasts last week caused the Fatah-Hamas unity government’s prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, to cancel his planned trip to Gaza.
In August, Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, uncovered an attempt by Hamas to overthrow the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
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