PA President and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas condemned the IDF's counter-terror operations in Gaza Tuesday, calling the killing of eleven terrorists a "massacre."

"What happened today is a massacre, a slaughter against the Palestinian people," Abbas told Reuters from his truncated government perch in Ramallah, where he has been since he was routed from Gaza by the Islamist Hamas.

"Our people cannot keep silent over these massacres... These massacres cannot bring peace," he added. Fatah and Hamas have killed each other's affiliates regularly in Gaza since the Hamas takeover last year.