Egypt Daily News – The Fatah movement, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on Hamas on Saturday to relinquish power in order to protect the “Palestinian presence” in the Gaza Strip.
Fatah spokesman in Gaza, Munther Al-Hayek, urged “Hamas to step away from the government scene and fully realize that the next battle is about ending the Palestinian presence.”
He told AFP, “Hamas must be lenient with Gaza, its children, women, and men. We warn of heavy, harsh, and difficult days ahead for the residents of the Strip.”
Hamas, which won the Palestinian legislative elections in 2006, took control of Gaza in 2007 after forcing Fatah out of the Strip.
Israel resumed its intense bombardment of Gaza on Tuesday, citing a deadlock in indirect negotiations over the next steps of the truce after the first phase ended earlier this month.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the Hamas attack, 58 remain in captivity in Gaza, including 34 whom the Israeli military has declared dead.
The war in Gaza has led to the deaths of at least 49,617 people, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, which the United Nations considers reliable.
