Abbas Says Hamas' Actions Killing Civilians Doesn't Represent Palestinians… Then Recants

The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has condemned the attacks of the Hamas terrorist group on Israel justifying that “they do not represent the Palestinian people”, in a report by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, although the message was later deleted and the version of the leader changed.

Initially, the note detailed that Abbas had had a telephone conversation with Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, in which the Arab leader presented the Palestine Liberation Organization as the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.. The report, picked up by Reuters, read: “The president also emphasized that the policies and actions of Hamas do not represent the Palestinian people, and the policies, programs and decisions of (the Palestine Liberation Organization) represent the Palestinian people as their sole legitimate representative.”

However, the text was deleted and modified by another piece in which the reference to Hamas was no longer explicit.. The new text cited: “The president also stressed 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.”

The deletion of the content of the conversation has not been accompanied by any justification. Neither Abbas, by authorship, nor Hamas, by allusion, have made reference to the leader's retraction of limited self-government in the West Bank.

The differences between the leaders of the West Bank and Gaza are evident and reconciliation seems still far away. In the same call Abbas “affirmed his rejection of the killing of civilians on both sides and called for the release of civilians, prisoners and detainees.”