The Hamas group expressed its “regret” at the statement by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about its October 7 operation before the Arab League summit in Manama on Thursday.
He said the armed group “unilaterally” carried out the attack and “gave Israel more excuses to attack Gaza.”
Hamas responded by saying that “Israel does not need excuses to commit its crimes” against the Palestinian people.
Abbas added that Hamas continued to reject efforts to end the division between Palestinians “in service of an Israeli plot the occupation government was working on implementing weeks before October 7.”
The plot, he went on to say, aimed to consolidate the separation of Gaza from the West Bank and Jerusalem to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and weaken the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization.
Hamas dismissed Abbas’ remarks, saying it has “repeatedly expressed its keenness on restoring national unity.”
It added that it has shown the necessary “flexibility in an effort to strengthen the internal Palestinian front and unite the national rank.”
