Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks at the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 21, 2023. Portal/Brendan McDermid LICENSES
Oct 15 (Portal) – The Palestinian Authority’s official news agency on Sunday published comments from President Mahmoud Abbas in which he criticized Hamas over its actions, but later removed the reference to the militant group without providing an explanation.
The comments, published by WAFA on its website, came during a telephone conversation between Abbas and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The two discussed the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ deadly rampage through Israeli cities.
The original WAFA report on Abbas’s call included the line: “The president also stressed that Hamas’ policies and actions do not represent the Palestinian people and that the (Palestine Liberation Organization’s) policies, programs and decisions represent the Palestinian people as theirs.” represent the people.” sole legal representative.”
A few hours later, the sentence was amended to read: “The President also emphasized that the policies, programs and decisions of the PLO represent the Palestinian people as their only legitimate representative and not the policies of any other organization.”
It was not immediately clear why the reference to Hamas was removed. There was no immediate comment from Abbas’ office or WAFA. Hamas had no immediate comment.
Abbas’s Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He has long been an opponent of Hamas, which took control of Gaza in 2007 and drove out Fatah party forces loyal to Abbas. Years of reconciliation talks between the rivals failed to achieve a breakthrough.
Abbas also heads the PLO, the umbrella organization that represented the Palestinians in previous U.S.-sponsored peace talks with Israel.
During his phone call with Maduro, Abbas “reiterated his opposition to the killing of civilians on both sides and called for the release of civilians, prisoners and detainees,” the WAFA report said.
Reporting by Rami Ayyub with additional reporting by Hatem Maher and Ahmed Tolba; Editing by Deepa Babington, Lisa Shumaker and Sonali Paul
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