Abbas says Israel-Hamas deal 'over my dead body'

Israel’s Channel 10 News published a report on Tuesday based on comments from a senior Fatah official demonstrating Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ intense hostility toward any potential deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip.

According to the report, the Fatah official told Channel 10 that Abbas was furious with the Egyptians for mediating the agreement, which the PA chief referred to as “treachery and defiance against the leadership.”

The official also claimed that Abbas acknowledged that the supposed reconciliation process between his party and Hamas was disintegrating.

Abbas apparently made his position on the ceasefire clear, commenting “An agreement between Hamas and Israel, over my dead body!”

Among Abbas’ complaints with regard to any future agreement involving Hamas is the illegitimacy of the terror group’s rule over the Gaza Strip, which was achieved via a violent coup through which the PA was ousted from the coastal enclave.

Regardless of Abbas’ comments, senior Hamas officials claimed that the ceasefire agreement could be concluded in the near future, after a break in negotiations due to the Eid al-Adha holiday.

With Hamas officials issuing statements regarding the terror group’s intention to maintain its arsenal and militaristic capabilities, and their contention that prisoner exchanges would be addressed separately, the ultimate fate of the ceasefire remains to be seen.