Hamas announced Thursday that it would not accept Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s offer to help Hamas and Israel negotiate a ceasefire.  Hamas spokesmen accused Abbas of “ignoring the suffering of the Palestinian people” and working for “the protection of the occupier.”

Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah group have clashed since Hamas took over Gaza in the summer of 2007.  Abbas has repeatedly said that he would like to negotiate with Hamas, but only after the group gives the Fatah-led PA control over Gaza.