Hamas Refuses Abbas’ Condition for Acknowledging Int’l Resolutions

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Reuters)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Reuters)
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Hamas Refuses Abbas’ Condition for Acknowledging Int’l Resolutions

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Reuters)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Reuters)

Hamas has rejected conditions presented by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas for achieving national unity and forming a consensus government. The Gaza ruling group claimed that complying with Abbas’ terms meant surrendering to Israeli conditions.

“The requirements of President Abbas to form a government and achieve national unity are dependent on Zionist conditions and contradict the state of the Palestinian national consensus,” said Hamas Spokesperson Abdul-Latif Al-Qanou.

“Any national dialogue should be based on Cairo understandings,” affirmed Al-Qanou.

Al-Qanou accused the PA President of having opposing positions to national consensus, violating signed agreements and practicing tyranny.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson defended Hamas by saying it had made concessions at every stage in the hopes of achieving national consensus.

Abbas has requested that Hamas to recognize international resolutions before engaging in dialogue over national unity.

Responding to a letter passed to him by prominent Palestinian businessman Munib Al-Masri, who met with the Hamas leadership in Gaza and abroad, Abbas wrote: “Hamas has to recognize the international resolutions in order to be a partner.”

Al-Masri described his meetings with Hamas officials as “positive” and reiterated the movement’s intention to end the internal Palestinian division and reach national reconciliation.

Abbas stressed that “there would be no dialogue with them (Hamas)” unless he is sent a letter by Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh that is personally signed by him.

Reconciliation talks between Abbas’ Fatah, the second-largest party in the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Hamas are at a standstill.

The last serious attempt to reboot talks took place last June when Egypt engaged in a one-on-one dialogue with the two parties before launching an inclusive national dialogue that was canceled at the last minute due to the differences between Fatah and Hamas.

The two sides differed over the elections, which were ultimately cancelled, the government, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and reconstruction of Gaza.



UN: Nearly 70% of Verified Gaza War Dead Are Women and Children

FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
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UN: Nearly 70% of Verified Gaza War Dead Are Women and Children

FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo

The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70% of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
The UN tally since the start of the war, in which Israel's military is fighting Hamas militants, includes only fatalities it has managed to verify with three sources, and counting continues.

The 8,119 victims verified is a much lower number than the toll of over 43,000 provided by Palestinian health authorities for the 13-month-old war. But the UN breakdown of the victims' age and gender backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a large portion of those killed in the war.

This finding indicates "a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality," the UN rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report.

"It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for comment on the report's findings.

"Our monitoring indicates that this unprecedented level of killing and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law," Turk said in a statement.

"Tragically, these documented patterns of violations continue unabated, over one year after the start of the war."

His office found that about 80 percent of all the verified deaths in Gaza had occurred in Israeli attacks on residential buildings or similar housing, and that close to 90 percent had died in incidents that killed five or more people.