Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called on Hamas to disarm and hand over governance of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinian Authority (PA). This appeal, made during a leadership council meeting, aims to bolster the PA’s legitimacy amid ongoing regional conflict and international pressure. Abbas emphasized that the PA is prepared to assume full responsibility for Gaza, including administrative and security functions, to alleviate the suffering of its people and restore essential services .
The PA has governed parts of the West Bank since its establishment in 1994. It lost control of Gaza in June 2007 after a violent conflict between Fatah, Abbas’s political party, and Hamas, which won parliamentary elections in the coastal enclave the year before. Since then, Hamas has maintained de facto control over Gaza, while the PA has governed the West Bank.
Abbas’s call for Hamas to disarm and relinquish control of Gaza reflects ongoing tensions between the two factions. Hamas has previously stated that it would consider disarming if a sovereign Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders .
The international community continues to monitor the situation closely, as the division between the PA and Hamas remains a significant obstacle to Palestinian unity and the broader peace process.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Picture on Flickr by UN Photo/Cia Pak
