Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) took jabs at each other in official statements on Saturday, with Hamas accusing the PA of trying to kill its members and the PA stressing it would not allow the terror group to “reproduce its activities in the West Bank.”
Hamas leader Abdul Rahman Shadid condemned the PA for attempting to “assassinate” members of the terror group in a statement on its official Telegram channel.
Shadid claimed, “What happened in Tulkarm Governorate, where the Authority’s security forces directly shot at a resistance vehicle in an attempt to kill them for the second time in a few days, confirms that officials in the Authority issued instructions to liquidate and kill resistance fighters in the West Bank.”
The first alleged attempt to kill the Hamas terrorists was reported by Al Jazeera earlier in the week, which said that PA forces opened fire on a vehicle carrying three men near Tulkarm, leaving one in critical condition.
Shadid added that the PA leadership and security apparatus have grown “increasingly willing to shed Palestinian blood, as evidenced by the events in Jenin refugee camp over the past 38 days, during which nine Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed.”
On Friday, Hamas accused the PA of “shedding Palestinian blood” and claimed that it was responsible for the deaths of 19 Palestinian “martyrs” since the initiation of the “Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa,” the Hamas name for the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
Fatah: Hamas not welcome in West Bank
In its statement on Saturday evening, the Fatah, controlling the PA, said it “will not allow Hamas, which has jeopardized the interests and resources of the Palestinian people in favor of Iran and caused the destruction of Gaza, to reproduce its activities in the West Bank.”
Fatah said Hamas “provided free pretexts” for Israel to “carry out the largest campaign of extermination against our people in Gaza since October 7, 2023.”
Fatah also condemned Hamas’s use of Gazan civilians “as human shields instead of protecting them and their homes.”
The statement added that Hamas was responsible for the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza, “characterized by the spread of hunger, poverty, and deprivation of basic humanitarian needs.”
“Hamas should not be allowed to reproduce such reckless actions in the West Bank,” it continued.
Fatah also warned of “Iran’s expansionist ambitions to turn Palestine into an area of influence, even at the cost of the blood of Palestinian children.”
PA cracks down on security
This comes amid the PA’s ongoing security crackdown in Jenin, which, according to Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hamas, has included “persecution of resistance fighters.”
“The actions of the PA security forces constitute a national and moral crime and a violation of the sanctity of Palestinian blood. This necessitates a broad national movement to put an end to the killings, displacement, and destruction occurring in the West Bank,” the PIJ said.
