Mahmoud Abbas, born in 1935 in Safed (present-day Israel), stands as a pivotal figure in Palestinian politics, occupying the roles of head of Fatah, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), and the Palestinian Authority (PA). His deep involvement in Palestinian affairs dates back decades, marked by both his advocacy for peaceful negotiations and the internal strife between Palestinian factions.
One of the original co-founders of Fatah, Abbas played a crucial role in shaping the political landscape of Palestine. He was a key architect of the 1993 Oslo Accords, and previously served as the head of the PLO’s department for national and international relations for a year in 1980. He initiated contacts with Jewish and pacifist groups in Israel as far back as the 1970s, and headed the Palestinian negotiating team that created the Oslo Accords in 1993. His commitment to political dialogue with Israel, as opposed to military confrontation, has been a defining characteristic of his leadership. He served as the first prime minister of the PA in 2003 but soon resigned due to political frustrations with Yasser Arafat, Israel, and the United States. Following Arafat’s death in November 2004, Abbas was elected as chairman of both Fatah’s Central Committee (CC), and the PLO’s Executive Committee (EC). In January 2005, he was elected president of the PA with 62 percent of the vote.
Despite his efforts towards peace, Abbas's tenure has been fraught with challenges, including internal divisions within Fatah and escalating tensions with Hamas. He has faced criticism for consolidating power within Fatah, filling the CC with close allies, and sidelining rivals. As PA president, following the Fatah-Hamas split in 2007, he is accused of eroding democratic institutions, weakening the judiciary, and entrenching the PA’s authoritarian policies.
The Fatah-Hamas conflict is an ongoing political and strategic conflict between Fatah and Hamas, the two main Palestinian political parties in the Palestinian territories, leading to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Tensions between Fatah and Hamas began to rise in 2005 after the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004. After the legislative election on 25 January 2006, which resulted in a Hamas victory, relations were marked by sporadic factional fighting.
The roots of the Fatah-Hamas conflict run deep, stemming from ideological differences and competition for political control. The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, which split from Abbas’s Fatah in the 2000s, issued a statement on Telegram on Wednesday condemning Abbas’s remarks. Abbas and the PA have often accused Hamas of undermining Palestinian unity, while Hamas has criticised the former for collaborating with Israel and cracking down on West Bank dissent. Fatah and other factions had refused to join, especially as Hamas refused to accept the Quartet's conditions, such as recognition of Israel and earlier agreements. As a result, a substantial part of the international community, especially Israel, the United States and European Union countries, refused to deal with the Hamas government and imposed sanctions.
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The conflict escalated dramatically after Hamas' victory in the 2006 elections. Fatah refused to cooperate with Hamas. Several sources speak of considerable involvement by the United States, Israel and Arab states, after Hamas in 2006 announced the formation of its own security service, the Executive Force, which was denounced by Mahmoud Abbas as unconstitutional. According to the IISS, the June 2007 escalation was triggered by Hamas' conviction that the PA's Presidential Guard, loyal to Mahmoud Abbas, was being positioned to take control of Gaza. The US had helped build up the Presidential Guard to 3,500 men since August 2006. The US committed $59 million for training and non-lethal equipment for the Presidential Guard, and persuaded Arab allies to fund the purchase of further weapons. Israel, too, allowed light arms to flow to members of the Presidential Guard.
In June 2007, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip, ousting Fatah and establishing its own governance. This takeover deepened the divide between the West Bank, governed by the PA under Abbas, and Gaza, controlled by Hamas. The attacks of Hamas gunmen against Fatah security forces in the Gaza Strip resulted in a reaction of Fatah gunmen against Hamas institutions in the West Bank. On 16 June, a Fatah-linked militant group, the al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades, stormed the Hamas-controlled parliament based in Ramallah in the West Bank.
Despite the ongoing conflict, there have been several attempts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. Calls for the implementation of the Cairo Declaration, including the formation of a unity government and the cessation of violence between Fatah and Hamas, were made in the Fatah-Hamas Mecca Agreement of 8 February 2007. The Hamas government was replaced on 17 March 2007 by a national unity government headed by Haniyeh comprising Hamas and Fatah ministers. On 23 March 2008, Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in Sana'a, Yemen that amounted to a reconciliation deal.
However, these efforts have largely failed to bridge the deep divide, with disagreements over power-sharing and security arrangements remaining significant obstacles. When PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah visited Gaza in March 2018, he was the target of an assassination attempt when a bomb detonated near his convoy.
Recently, Mahmoud Abbas has openly criticised Hamas, particularly regarding the holding of captives and its impact on the situation in Gaza. 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. Abbas on Wednesday urged Hamas to free all captives, saying keeping them provided Israel with “excuses” to attack Gaza. Abbas’s speech laid out his vision to create a Palestinian state, calling for an end to the war in Gaza and renewed calls for a unification of Palestinian political factions under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
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These remarks reflect the deep political and ideological divisions between Abbas’s Fatah party and Hamas. Hamas has condemned remarks made by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who urged the Palestinian group ruling Gaza to release Israeli captives and lay down arms.
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