Hamas: Abbas’ threats should be directed at enemies, not partners

Hamas has held Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responsible for all “dangerous consequences of the failed reconciliation and targeting the unity and perseverance of the Palestinian people,” stressing that his threats should be directed at “the country’s enemies” not its partners.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement obtained by Anadolu that “the threats made by President Mahmoud Abbas during his meeting with the Arab ambassadors in Washington on Thursday reflects his ill intentions towards Hamas and confirms his ugly factional exclusivist approach.”

Read: Abbas in Washington… what does it have in store for the cause?

Barhoum also said “any threats should be directed at the enemies of the state, not partners in the state.”

He also reiterated that his movement is willing to engage in any elections in which honesty, free voting and the respect of the results are ensured.

During his meeting with Arab ambassadors in Washington, Abbas said:

In the past, and before the division [of 2006], we paid nearly 52 per cent of our budget to the Gaza Strip, and this was something natural. However, when Hamas went through with the division, I said I would reconsider everything I do for the Gaza Strip.

He noted that he would be “taking unprecedented measures in Gaza in an effort to push Hamas to cancel its government and hold presidential and legislative elections.”