Abbas calls Hamas 'sons of dogs' and demands release of hostages

Abbas calls Hamas 'sons of dogs' and demands release of Gaza hostages

15 hours ago Share Save Sebastian Usher & David Gritten BBC News Reporting from Jerusalem Share Save

Reuters Mahmoud Abbas told a meeting in Ramallah that Hamas had given Israel "excuses" to continue the Gaza war

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". 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".

Last week, the group rejected an Israeli proposal for a new ceasefire in Gaza, which included a demand to disarm in return for a six-week pause in hostilities and the release of 10 of the 59 remaining hostages. Hamas reiterated that it would hand over all of the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal. It also ruled out giving up its weapons. The PA, which is led by Abbas and dominated by his Fatah movement, has only governed parts of the West Bank since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, a year after it won legislative elections. The PA's leadership has regularly insisted it is ready to take over running post-war Gaza. But it has been criticised by Palestinians for not speaking out enough or taking effective action. 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. 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. Abbas, 89, is seen as an irrelevance by many Palestinians. He has remained in power without election for many years, presiding over a PA that is seen by its critics as ineffective at best and corrupt at worst. Hamas has essentially accused it of collaborating with Israel. In a separate development on Wednesday, Hamas's military wing released a video showing the Israel-Hungarian hostage Omri Miran, 48, in an underground tunnel. "On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, when we say 'Never Again,' an Israeli citizen cries out for help from Hamas' tunnels. It is a moral failure for the State of Israel," his family said in a statement.

Reuters First responders said they recovered 10 bodies following an overnight Israeli strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City