Leaders of Hamas, the terror organization that rules Gaza, launched on Monday an unprecedented verbal salvo against Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, saying they no longer consider him a Palestinian because he suspended efforts to pursue Israel for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
According to the Associated Press, which reported the verbal attack, the accusation is likely to undermine attempts at reconciliation between Hamas and the Abbas-led terror organization Fatah, which rules over the Arabs in Judea and Samaria. The reconciliation process was scheduled to conclude later this month.
Syria also reacted with vitriol to Abbas's decision to forgo a campaign for war crimes prosecutions against Israel in connection with Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Syria abruptly postponed Abbas' planned visit to Damascus in what appeared to be a reaction to Abbas's decision.
A United Nations report compiled by Judge Richard Goldstone of South Africa alleged that Israel committed war crimes during the three-week counterterror operation earlier this year. The U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva decided to wait six months before voting on referring the Goldstone report to the General Assembly for possible action against Israel.
Abdullah Abdullah, a representative of Fatah in the PA legislature, said that the PA representatives had been urged by "certain friendly countries” to postpone the vote.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Tuesday night demanded that Abbas apologize for the “sin” of deferring the vote on the report.