Political fractures on the Palestinian side have become more and more public as the Gaza war persists. On Wednesday Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas issued a strong declaration demanding that Hamas release all remaining Israeli captives in order to prevent Israel from using "an excuse" to continue destroying Palestinian homes and waging war in the Gaza Strip.
In the unexpected statement, Abbas went so far as to call Hamas militants "sons of dogs". He said while chairing a Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, "You sons of dogs, hand over what you have and get us out of this. Don't give Israel an excuse. Don't give them an excuse."
"Every day there are hundreds of deaths. Why? They don't want to hand over the US hostage," Abbas said, as cited in regional media. This was in reference to US-Israeli captive Adi Alexander. His family has been imploring President Trump to help gain his release. Alexander was born and raised in New Jersey.
Abbas highlighted that Israel sees itself as justified in erasing Palestinian identity so long as the hostage crisis continues. Fifty-nine hostages, living and dead, remain in the Gaza Strip. Abbas urged Hamas to hand over the hostages in order to "be done with it."
However, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his military leaders have vowed to purse the complete destruction of Hamas. So likely the US-designated terror group believes that if it frees all remaining hostages, the Israeli military will then even more relentlessly seek its total defeat. Israel has vowed to never let Hamas return to governance or power over the Strip.
The BBC commented on 89-year old Abbas' statement:
The remarks were the strongest against the group that the president has delivered since the war began 18 months ago.
A Hamas official condemned what he called Abbas's "derogatory language" towards "a significant proportion... of his own people".
The aforementioned Hamas representative added, "Abbas repeatedly and suspiciously lays the blame for the crimes of the occupation and its ongoing aggression on our people."
The West Bank leader's provocative words received some pushback from within Abbas' own political camp, and among other West Bank officials. "The victim cannot be held responsible for the crimes of the occupation. Today, we face the threat of a new catastrophe that may be more horrific than the 1948 Nakba," Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Barghouti, told Al Araby TV.
This PA vs. Hamas back-and-forth highlights that the two groups have long been rivals and political enemies. While there are occasional statements of 'solidarity' issued between both, much of the history of their interaction has been marred by political fighting, which has at times in past years spilled over into gunfights in the streets.
The PA, which has always been more secular-leaning and filled with Left-wing officials, is seen as weak and ineffectual by the Sunni hardliners in Hamas. It was Fatah, which makes up the core of the PA, which led resistance to Israeli policy for decades prior to Hamas gaining full power over the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, live at the Palestinian Central Council, to Hamas: “You sons of dogs, hand over the hostages.” pic.twitter.com/0TfPyZElVm
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) April 23, 2025
While anti-Israeli terrorism of the latter half of the 20th century was dominated by Marxist guerrillas, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), recent decades have seen the rise of the Islamists.
The founder of the PFLP, which became infamous for hijacking airplanes throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s, was George Habash - born to a Christian Palestinian family. He was even given an Orthodox Christian funeral in Amman, Jordan upon his death from natural causes in January 2008.
The founder of the PFLP George Habash was given a Christian funeral at an Orthodox Christian cathedral in Amman. This highlights that prior to the rise of Hamas, Palestinian militants tended to be secular, Left-leaning, and from diverse religious backgrounds.
The PA (PLO/Fatah) continues to even have Christian officials in its ranks, while Hamas is purely Sunni and often threatens the remaining Palestinian Christians in Gaza.
The whole rivalry is a further reminder that Western officials and populations often approach the Palestine-Israel conflict in an overly simplistic manner. They tend to assume the Palestinians have a singular worldview and politics. Similarly, Israeli politics are also often deeply divided, revealing deeper complexities.
