The Palestinian Authority’s top decision-making body endorsed Mahmoud Abbas’ dumping of Hamas.
The Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) executive on Thursday backed Abbas, who serves as its leader, as well as the emergency Cabinet he formed after firing Hamas from the government.
The gesture was meant to shore up Abbas in the West Bank, where his Fatah faction still holds sway. Hamas, which does not belong to the PLO, rejected Thursday’s declaration as illegitimate.
The PLO executive also called for all Palestinian militias, including Hamas’s Executive Force and Fatah’s Al-Aksa Brigades, to be dismantled — a requirement of the “road map” peace plan that Abbas never implemented. While such a crackdown could be tried in the West Bank, it is next to impossible in Gaza, where Hamas militias appear to be in control.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
