Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday called on Hamas to release the hostages "in order to prevent Israel's excuses," calling the terror group "sons of dogs."
"The coup which Hamas conducted in 2007 gave Israel an excuse to destroy the Gaza Strip: 2,165 families were completely wiped out, and 6,664 were partially wiped out. More than two-thirds of the homes were destroyed in the war."
"The war needs to end," he warned. "Every day there are hundreds killed. Why? You don't want to hand over the American hostages. You sons of dogs! Hand over the hostages and be finished with the matter."
Slamming Israel for deducting terrorists' payments from the funds transferred to the Palestinian Authority, he added: "Israel wishes to eliminate the Palestinian issue by means of its operations in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. Uprooting [people] from Gaza is a new catastrophe."
"Hamas must end its control in Gaza and hand its weapons over to the Palestinian Authority," he concluded.