On Wednesday, the president of the Palestinian authority, Mahmoud Abbas, called on the terrorist group Hamas “Sons of Dogs” and told the terrorist group to release the hostages it holds in order to eliminate what it said is the pretext of Israel to continue its war in Gaza.
“The first priority is to stop the war of extermination in Gaza. It must be arrested – hundreds are killed every day,” said Abbas in a speech. “Why not put back the American hostages?”
Addressing Hamas as “Sons of Dogs”, the president of the AP said to the terrorist group to “liberate those you will hold and end this story. Stop their apologies (from Israel). Finish it ”.
He also called on Hamas to yield Gaza control to the AP, to abandon arms and become a political party.
“Hamas must submit the responsibilities of Gaza and put its arms to the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority and turn into a political party,” said Abbas.
Hamas has refused calls in recent months by Israel and the United States to put its arms.
Abbas made these remarks during a speech at the opening of the meeting of the central council of the PLO.
Edan Alexander was taken to captivity by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
It was not clear if it was referring to the release of the 59 hostages or only to those who have American citizenship.
American-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander is the only American citizen who is still alive in captivity, although Hamas also has the bodies of four other American nationals.
Abbas added that the council rejects what he said to be Israel’s attempts to uproot the residents of Gaza of their houses, calling it “new Nakba”, referring to the mass movement of a few hundred Palestinians in the War of India of Israel in 1948.
“We are offset this. This is an inseparable part of our lands-what happens in Gaza also occurs in Jenin, everywhere,” he said, referring to a city of West Bank which was at the center of the counter-terrorist raids by the forces of Tsahal and AP.
Abbas delivered his speech during a meeting in the city of Ramallah of the West Bank, during which he should appoint a successor, part of the efforts to respond to the international doubts of the viability of the Palestinian authority at a critical moment for the region.
The head of the PA previously criticized the attack led by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, which, according to him, gave Israel a pretext to destroy Gaza. Hamas has led more than 5,000 terrorists to invade southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mainly civilians and removing 251 hostages.
Two weeks ago, the presidency of the PA also urged Hamas in a statement to “stop giving the occupation of the apology to continue its genocide”.
The Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli strike in Gaza City on April 23, 2025. (Omar al-Qattaa / AFP)
Abbas and the AP have often accused Hamas of having undermined Palestinian unity, while Hamas criticized the AP for having collaborated with Israel and reprimanded the dissident in the West Bank.
Hamas did not immediately comment on the new remarks of Abbas.
The links between the Abbas Fatah Party and Hamas are held, with deep political and ideological divisions for almost two decades. In 2007, Hamas grabbed Gaza to control the AP in a bloody coup, and the two stayed on a daily basis despite the repeated reconciliation efforts.
Abbas’ remarks came while the Arab mediators are working on a proposal to end the War of Israel-Hamas, which would include a truce of five to seven years and the release of all the remaining hostages, officials said.
An Israeli strike overnight on a school that has become a tile in Gaza killed 23 people, according to local health authorities controlled by Hamas. The figures could not be verified and do not make the difference between civilians and the agents of terrorism.
The civil defense, the first stakeholders who operate under the government managed by Hamas, said that he had recovered four other strike organizations in two houses in the same region. He said there were more people trapped under the rubble.
Relatives cry on the bodies of the members of the Jalis and Al-Sharbasi families, killed on an Israeli air strike at the Yaffa school in Gaza City, on April 23, 2025. (Jehad Alshrafi / AP)
The FDI and Shin Bet declared that the air strike early in the morning targeted Hamas and the Palestinian agents of Islamic jihad integrated into the old school of Yaffa in Gaza City.
According to the army, Hamas and Islamic jihad used the school as a command center to plan and carry out attacks against Israel and the troops.
The FDI said it had taken measures to mitigate civil damage in the strike, including the use of “precision, air surveillance and additional intelligence”.
“Terrorist organizations systematically violate international law while taking civil infrastructure, and while brutally exploiting the civilian population as a human shield for its terrorist attacks,” added the army.
احتراق خيام وفص Rin pic.twitter.com/jqzdxgtgfd
– شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) April 23, 2025
Egypt and Qatar are still developing the proposal of truce, which would include the gradual withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the whole band and the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to an Egyptian official and a Hamas official who spoke under the cover of anonymity because they were not allowed to inform the media.
A ceasefire began in January, which saw small prizes of hostage released in exchange for an increase in humanitarian aid deliveries in Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners held by Israel.
But the truce collapsed in March and Israel resumed its military campaign, promising to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and that Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and sent to exile. He sealed the territory of all imports, including food, and says that it will indefinitely hold parts.
Hamas said that he would only release the dozens of hostages which he has in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire, as planned in the now disappeared agreement concluded in January. A delegation from Hamas arrived in Cairo Tuesday evening to discuss the evolution proposal.
A long -term truce
The Egyptian official said that the proposed truce, with international guarantees, would last between five and seven years, and that a political committee of politically independent technocrats would govern Gaza – a measure of Hamas has accepted.
TSAhal troops are seen in the Morag corridor area in the Southern Gaza Strip, April 21, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian / Times of Israel)
The head of Hamas said that the terrorist group was open to a long -term truce which includes the full withdrawal of Israeli forces and international guarantees, appointing Russia, China, Turkey or the United Nations Security Council as possible.
Turkey, a regional heavyweight that has had tense ties with Israel in recent years, has recently joined the negotiations, said the Egyptian official.
There was no immediate comments from Israeli officials. But Israel has excluded any arrangement that would allow Hamas to keep its influence in Gaza and Rearm, two goals on which the group is already working. The Trump administration, which was also involved in the cease-fire talks, said that it fully supported Israel.
Israel and the United States have prompted Hamas to accept a temporary truce in which it would immediately release several hostages in exchange for waves promises of talks on a more permanent ceasefire. Hamas has rejected these proposals and says that it will not disarm until Israel occupies the Palestinian territory.
The Hamas official said that the group did not trust Netanyahu or the United States, accusing them of having broken the existing ceasefire agreement, which had facilitated more than 30 hostages.
The Egyptian official said the mediators felt like US President Donald Trump wanted an agreement before visiting the region next month. Trump will go to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from May 13 to 16.
Visitors consider a clock that has had time since the hostages were taken on October 7, 2023, in Ortages Square in Tel Aviv, on April 20, 2025. (Miriam Alster / Flash90)
Terrorist groups of the Gaza Strip hold 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 kidnapped by terrorists led by Hamas on October 7, 2023. They include bodies of at least 35 dead confirmed by the IDF.
Hamas released 30 hostages – 20 Israeli civilians, five Thai soldiers and five nationals – and the bodies of eight Israeli captives killed during a ceasefire between January and March. The terrorist group released 105 civilians in a truce of a week at the end of November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the first weeks of the war. In exchange, Israel has released some 2,000 imprisoned Palestinian terrorists, security prisoners and suspects of Gazan terrorism detained during the war.
Eight hostages were saved from captivity by living troops, and the bodies of 41 were also recovered, three of whom were mistakenly killed by the Israeli army while they were trying to escape their kidnappers and the body of a soldier killed in 2014.
The body of another soldier killed in 2014, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, is still held by Hamas and is counted among the 59 hostages.
France, Germany and Great Britain condemn the Israeli blockade
Mwan, France, Germany and Great Britain have published a statement calling Israel to allow the band to help again.
“The Israeli decision to block the assistance of the Gaza entry is intolerable,” the three European powers said in a joint statement. They also condemned the recent remarks of the Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, who said that the blockade was a tactic of pressure and that the troops would remain in certain parts of Gaza.
“Humanitarian aid should never be used as a political tool, and the Palestinian territory should not be reduced or subject to any demographic change. Israel is linked under international law to allow the passage of humanitarian aid,” the European press release said.
The Gaza Ministry of Health managed by Hamas says that more than 50,000 people in the strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, although the toll cannot be checked and does not make the difference between civilians and combatants. Israel says he killed some 20,000 combat fighters in January and 1,600 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel said he was looking to minimize civilian deaths and stresses that Hamas uses civilians from Gaza as human shields, fighting civil zones, including houses, hospitals, schools and mosques.
Israel’s toll in the offensive on the ground against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the strip is 411. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission and two civil entrepreneurs from the Ministry of Defense.
