Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a speech at the Arab League summit in Baghdad today, calling on Hamas and other armed factions to disarm and relinquish control of the Gaza Strip.
“Hamas must give up control of Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority,” Abbas declared, adding, “The State of Palestine must assume its responsibility for the damaged Strip.”
During his address, Abbas warned that “the Palestinian cause is facing existential threats,” accusing Israel of perpetrating “genocidal crimes in Gaza” and labeling both the military campaign in Gaza and settlement activity in the West Bank as part of a “colonial project.”
The Palestinian Authority president reiterated demands for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, unrestricted humanitarian aid into the Strip, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. “Hamas and all factions must disarm,” he insisted.
Abbas also announced the Palestinian Authority’s readiness to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in the coming year. “We are continuing the reform process across all state institutions,” he stated.
In his remarks, Abbas painted the Palestinian Authority as the legitimate governing body that should take over full responsibility for Gaza—a clear challenge to Hamas’s longstanding rule in the enclave, which began after a violent coup in 2007 that ousted the PA from power there.
The summit, the 34th gathering of the Arab League, drew leaders and officials from across the Arab world, many of whom echoed Abbas’s calls to end the war in Gaza and denounced what they described as “Israel’s efforts to uproot Palestinians from the Strip.”
Also present at the summit were United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, both of whom have taken critical stances against Israel in recent months.
{Matzav.com Israel}