Palestinian President calls on Hamas to hand over arms to his authority, release hostages

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in a televised speech on Wednesday, called on the Hamas militant group to cede its responsibility over the Gaza Strip, hand over its arms to the Palestinian Authority, release the hostages held in Gaza and turn itself into a political party.

“Hamas has given the criminal occupation excuses to commit its crimes in the Gaza Strip, the most prominent being the holding of hostages,” Abbas said at a meeting in Ramallah. “I’m the one paying the price, our people are paying the price, not Israel. My brother, just hand them over.”

Abbas made his remarks in a speech during a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah at which he is expected to name a successor, part of efforts to answer international doubts over the Palestinian Authority’s viability at a critical moment for the region.

Abbas has criticized the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which he said gave Israel a pretext to destroy Gaza. Israel launched its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack.

Hamas, which opposes Abbas’ efforts at peace making with Israel, has accused him of cracking down against militant factions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It did not immediately comment on Abbas’s new remarks.

Abbas urged world leaders to compel Israel to end the war in Gaza, pull put its forces and end the activities of Jewish settlements, adding that there can be no peace until the Palestinians establish a state in the borders that were in place before the 1967 Middle East war.