Abbas demands Hamas give up Gaza with Trump ‘hopeful’ for truce

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that Hamas “cannot govern” the Gaza Strip should Israel’s ongoing war come to an end, in a meeting in Jordan on Sunday.

Abbas said the group must also hand over its arms to the PA, engage in political activity “in accordance with the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) programme and international legitimacy” and ensure “the existence of a single legitimate regime and weapons in the Gaza Strip”.

Abbas’s remarks came during his meeting with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The two discussed the latest political and humanitarian developments in the Palestinian territories, particularly in the Gaza Strip, according to a post on the Palestinian presidency’s Facebook page.

Abbas stressed the need to reach an immediate ceasefire in the war-battered territory, where over 58,000 Palestinians have now been killed, and called for the release of all Israeli captives held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners, as well as the entry of urgent humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The only viable solution for the ongoing crisis is Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza and for the State of Palestine to assume its full responsibilities there, with effective Arab and international support, Abbas said.

He also called for an end to settler expansion movements in the West Bank and a halt to attacks on religious sites in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In April this year, the PA’s president demanded that Hamas hand over control of Gaza, disarm, and release captives held there.

During the 32nd session of the Palestinian Central Council, Abbas crudely referred to Hamas as “sons of dogs”.

The Hamas and Fatah parties have been at loggerheads and embroiled in a political conflict for almost two decades, which was triggered by the Hamas’ victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas’ Fatah party in 2007 after the PA blocked them from exercising power.

The two groups, however, have made sporadic attempts at reconciliation since.

Trump says Gaza ceasefire breakthrough ‘ within a week’

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas could see a breakthrough “within a week”.

“Hopefully we’re going to get that straightened out over the next week,” he told reporters.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff echoed Trump’s remarks, telling reporters on Sunday that he felt “hopeful” concerning the ceasefire talks, and said he intended to speak with Qatari mediators on the sidelines of the FIFA Club World Cup final, held in the United States.

The ongoing proposal entails a 60-day truce that would see the phased release of captives in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from specific areas of the coastal enclave, and the resumption of negotiations aimed at ending the war in Gaza once and for all.

Negotiations, however, have been stuck over Israel’s refusal to guarantee a complete withdrawal from the war-battered territory as well as an end to the war, now ongoing for over 21 months.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of deliberately stalling the negotiations and prolonging the war, despite three-in-four Israelis backing an agreement with Hamas that would see the release of all the captives at once in exchange for an end to the military onslaught, according to a poll aired on Friday on Israel’s Channel 12.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz’s proposal for an internment centre, widely viewed as a concentration camp, in Rafah for Gaza’s Palestinians has reportedly been thrown out by Netanyahu during a tense cabinet meeting on Sunday.

Netanyahu reportedly made demands for an alternative to the proposal following alleged objections from the Israeli military to such a camp, according to local media reports.

Katz’s concentration camp proposal was viewed by many as an attempt to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population.