Fatah Vice Chairman Accuses Hamas of Failing to Respond to Calls for Unity

 Participants in the Fatah congress in Ramallah clap and cheer before a speech by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Participants in the Fatah congress in Ramallah clap and cheer before a speech by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.. (photo credit: REUTERS)
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Fatah Vice Chairman Accuses Hamas of Failing to Respond to Calls for Unity

 Participants in the Fatah congress in Ramallah clap and cheer before a speech by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Participants in the Fatah congress in Ramallah clap and cheer before a speech by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.. (photo credit: REUTERS)

Fatah Vice Chairman and member of its central committee, Mahmoud al-Aloul, said that his movement was determined to achieve national unity, but Hamas has failed to respond to calls by the Palestinian Authority.

During a meeting with journalists and opinion writers in the Gaza Strip, through a video conference on Thursday, Aloul said: “we say to Hamas movement, let us unite our ranks in order to face the occupation together, as the Strip cannot be separated from Palestine.”

Aloul called on Hamas to dissolve the administrative committee as a first priority.

“The president made an appeal to Hamas for al-Aqsa Mosque and for our people.”

“This was an opportunity, but the movement’s reaction was disappointing. We say this opportunity still exist and we are determined to achieve national unity,” he told his audience.

The Palestinian official accused Hamas of deepening divisions, through its decision to form the administrative committee to run the Gaza Strip.

He stressed that the Palestinian president’s measures against Hamas would continue until the complete dissolving of the committee.

Aloul was referring to a series of measures adopted by Abbas against Gaza including the suspension of salaries of state employees and the halting of payment of electricity and fuel bills, as well as the cancellation of tax exemptions.

Abbas said that these measures would escalate until Hamas “dissolves its administrative committee, recognizes the government of national unity and accepts to hold general elections.”

Aloul, for his part, stressed that the PA measures were not targeted against Gaza residents, saying: “Actions undertaken by Hamas have divided the country into two parts, run by two administrations, and a large part of the measures we declare against the Gaza Strip have not been implemented.”



UK PM Starmer Recalls Cabinet to Discuss Gaza Peace Plan 

US President Donald Trump (R) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) arrive at the Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, 28 July 2025. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump (R) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) arrive at the Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, 28 July 2025. (EPA)
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UK PM Starmer Recalls Cabinet to Discuss Gaza Peace Plan 

US President Donald Trump (R) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) arrive at the Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, 28 July 2025. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump (R) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) arrive at the Trump International Golf Links course in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain, 28 July 2025. (EPA)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will hold an emergency cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Gaza and a proposed peace plan as he comes under mounting pressure from his own party to recognize a Palestinian state.

Starmer has taken the rare step of recalling his cabinet during the summer holidays to discuss how to deliver more humanitarian aid to Gaza.

In a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Scotland on Monday, Starmer discussed the need for a ceasefire in Gaza and what he called the "revolting" humanitarian crisis.

Britain is working on the plan with France and Germany after a call between the leaders of the three countries last week.

Starmer has not shared details of the plan, but over the weekend he compared the proposals to the "coalition of the willing", the international effort to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire in its war with Russia.

Starmer's spokesman said he would discuss the plan with other international allies and countries in the Middle East.

War has raged in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas for the past 22 months. Israel has been facing growing international criticism, which its government rejects, over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

With warnings people in Gaza are facing starvation, growing numbers of lawmakers in Starmer's Labor Party want him to recognize a Palestinian state to put pressure on Israel.

British foreign minister David Lammy will attend a United Nations conference in New York on Tuesday to urge support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

Successive British governments have said they will formally recognize a Palestinian state when the time is right, without ever setting a timetable or specifying the necessary conditions.

The issue has come to the fore after President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France would recognize Palestine as a state.

Starmer has so far rejected plans to immediately recognize a Palestinian state, saying he was focused on "practical solutions".

Last week, more than 200 British members of parliament from nine parties signed a letter Friday calling for an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state.