Mahmoud Habbash, Advisor To Palestinian President Abbas, Slams Hamas: 'Nobody Is Above Criticism; Hamas Wagered All The Palestinian Interests For Regional Agendas'

Mahmoud Habbash, advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, criticized Hamas on a December 18, 2023, show on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia), saying that it will be held accountable for the repercussions of its October 7 attack. He said that Israel is responsible for the bloodshed, but there is no reason to provide it with pretexts to perpetrate more crimes. Habbash added that nobody is above criticism and accountability. He said that Hamas should return to the Palestinian Liberation Organization and cooperate with it, and he accused Hamas of putting its party and regional agendas above the interests and unity of the Palestinian people.

Mahmoud Habbash: "As soon as the [Israeli] aggression is over, as soon as we reach that goal, people will have to reconsider [their actions]. The price that is paid in the Gaza Strip is not small. There are over 100,000 victims—martyrs and wounded people—in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, especially in the Gaza Strip. Will all those victims go unnoticed? Will we say it is not the right time for accountability? Responsibility for all this bloodshed lies with the Israeli occupation, but whoever provides any pretext…By the way, the occupation does not need pretexts, but it benefits from them. Why do some people turn to providing pretexts to the occupation, so it can perpetrate more crimes? There will be harsh discussion and harsh accountability, but not right now. We do not want to go into details now.

 "However, the 100,000 people who were killed in the Gaza Strip, the people who were martyred or wounded in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of thousands of buildings and infrastructure destroyed, I am saying this clearly to you and to our people: This will not just go away just like that. Nobody is above criticism and accountability.

"The only legal source of authority of the Palestinian people is the PLO. It is expected from everybody to return to the PLO and cooperate with it, but who made this decision [to launch the October 7 attack] on its own? Who decided, for the sake of party and regional agendas, to wager all the interests and the unity of the Palestinian people?