Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on Hamas to relinquish control of Gaza, disarm, and join the political process under the Palestinian Authority, as part of efforts to address regional instability and revive international confidence in Palestinian governance.
In a speech delivered Wednesday in Ramallah, West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the Hamas movement to transfer governance of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, disarm, and transition into a political party.
The remarks came during a high-level meeting where Abbas is expected to name a successor, a move seen as crucial to addressing global concerns over the Palestinian Authority’s long-term viability.
“Hamas must hand over (its) Gaza responsibilities and hand over its arms to the responsibility to Palestinian Authority and transform into a political party,” Abbas said, directly addressing internal Palestinian divisions.
Hamas has rejected previous demands from both Israel and the United States to disarm. The group has not yet responded to Abbas’s latest comments.
The Palestinian leader also reiterated his criticism of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which triggered a devastating Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
“That attack gave Israel a pretext to destroy Gaza,” Abbas stated, accusing Hamas of undermining broader Palestinian interests.
Abbas used the speech to renew calls for the international community to pressure Israel into ending its military operations in Gaza and halting settlement expansion in the West Bank.
He reaffirmed his longstanding position that a lasting peace is only possible through the establishment of a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders.
Hamas, which opposes Abbas’s approach to peacemaking with Israel, has in the past accused his administration of suppressing armed factions in the occupied West Bank.
Abbas, who has served as the President of Palestine since 2008, has had a complicated relation with both Hamas and Israel's leader Benjamin Nethanyahu. Abbas has consistently criticized Netanyahu's policies, especially regarding financial support to Hamas.
He has accused Netanyahu of facilitating Qatari cash transfers to Hamas, which he claims undermines the PA's authority and hampers reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah.
Abbas contends that these actions have led to increased violence in the West Bank and Gaza, asserting that Netanyahu's support for Hamas has backfired
Abbas's relationship with Hamas has been fraught with tension. While he has sought to maintain the PA's dominance in the West Bank, Hamas controls the Gaza Strip.
Efforts at reconciliation have often stalled, with both sides accusing each other of undermining unity.
Abbas's policies and statements have sometimes been perceived as attempts to marginalize Hamas, leading to further divisions within Palestinian politics.
At least 16 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza. Ten died in a strike on a school sheltering displaced families in Al-Tuffah, northeastern Gaza City.
Since the war began in October 2023, nearly 51,300 Palestinians — mostly women and children — have been killed, according to Gaza health officials.
The offensive resumed on March 18 after Israel abandoned a January ceasefire agreement.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice and arrest warrants from the ICC targeting Prime Minister Netanyahu and ex-Defence Minister Gallant for alleged war crimes.
The speech marks a critical moment for Palestinian leadership amid ongoing conflict, humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and increasing international focus on post-war governance in the territory.
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