Fatah and Hamas are years-long rivals after the latter seized power to govern the Gaza Strip in 2007 [Getty/file p
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement called on its rivals Hamas on Saturday to relinquish power in order to safeguard the “existence” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, battered by Israeli strikes.
“Hamas must show compassion for Gaza, its children, women and men,” Fatah spokesman Monther al-Hayek said in a message sent to AFP from Gaza.
He called on Hamas to “step aside from governing and fully recognise that the battle ahead will lead to the end of Palestinians’ existence” if it remains in power in Gaza.
Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007 from the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority following elections, and subsequent attempts at reconciliation have failed.
The territory has been devastated by a deadly Israeli war in retaliation for the attack by Hamas and other Palestinian groups on Israel on October 7, 2023.
More than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since, while Israel has resumed its attacks earlier this week despite the fragile ceasefire put in place since 19 January.
Hamas has said repeatedly it is willing to leave power in Gaza once the war is over but categorically excludes giving up its weapons.
“We are ready to accept any agreement regarding the administration of Gaza (post-war), and are not interested in participating in it,” Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou said in a statement Saturday.
“What’s important to us is the national consensus,” he added, recalling that Hamas has endorsed an Egyptian proposal for an independent committee of professionals and technocrats to manage Gaza post-war and oversee reconstruction.
Abbas says the committee must report to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, the sole legitimate entity to govern Gaza according to him, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has rejected this.
On Friday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to annex parts of Gaza unless Hamas frees the remaining Israeli hostages seized in the October 7 attack.
Of the 251 hostages taken that day, 58 are still being held, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
The latest Israeli offensive has caused a new exodus of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza.
“We are exhausted by the cycle of displacement,” Ramadan Houdoud told AFP in a tent camp in Al-Zawayda in the centre of the territory, after fleeing from Gaza City.
Displaced woman Umm Khaled lamented the destruction, adding: “There is no water, no food, and no rest.”
“Where can we go? We need a solution. Are there really no more Muslims to help us?” she asked.
