The Palestinian Authority criticized Hamas for engaging in negotiations with US officials without national authorization.
The Palestinian Authority presidency criticized Hamas on Tuesday for engaging in discussions with “foreign parties and negotiations without a national mandate”.
The comments followed a meeting between the movement’s leaders and Adam Boehler, the US special envoy for prisoner affairs.
The statement, issued by the presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh and published by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, condemned Hamas’ actions as an attempt to bypass national consensus.
“The presidential spokesman emphasized the fact that Hamas’s contacts with foreign parties were exposed on the eve of the emergency Arab summit in Cairo, which culminated in an Arab consensus in support of the Palestinian cause, constitutes circumvention of the Arab summit resolutions,” WAFA reported.
The Palestinian Authority’s Missteps and the Need for a New Path Forward – Analysis
The statement further called on Hamas to “end the division and hand over the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian National Authority under a unified national framework, a single law, a single security apparatus, and a sole legitimate political representation.”
Earlier this week, Boehler met with senior Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar, without Israel’s knowledge, to discuss the release of Israeli prisoners held in Gaza, including five American citizens.
On Monday, Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou stated that the negotiations—held with Egyptian and Qatari mediators alongside Boehler—focused on ending the war, securing an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and initiating reconstruction efforts.
In a recent article in the Palestine Chronicle, political analyst Robert Inlakesh stated that “the PA’s President, Mahmoud Abbas, has remained adamant that Hamas should not play a role in the governance of post-war Gaza, which has time and time again led to the collapse of reconciliation talks.”
The Palestinian Authority Seeks to Rule Gaza: Can It Succeed?
“Since the beginning of the Gaza Genocide the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been sitting on the sidelines, attempting to weave itself into a potential day-after settlement,” he wrote.
“While the Palestinian Authority had repeatedly released statements that sought to condemn Hamas and blame them for triggering the Israeli genocide, it also appeared to be hedging its bets on an Israeli victory of the Palestinian armed groups in Gaza and hoping to play a role in a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal,” Inlakesh added.
In early March, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel concluded. The deal, which began on January 19, was brokered by Qatar and Egypt, with US backing.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been waging a war in Gaza, resulting in over 160,000 Palestinian casualties, including dead and wounded—most of them children and women—while more than 14,000 people remain missing.
(PC, WAFA)
