Palestinian Authority (PA), PLO and Fatah President Mahmoud Abbas has warned of “unprecedented painful measures against Gaza.”
Doing this, he claims that he is deterring the political rival group Hamas, the main Palestinian faction, which won the general elections in 2006.
Hamas ended one and half a year of security chaos that claimed tens of lives in Gaza in July 2007, swept Fatah out and has been running the coastal enclave.
In support for Fatah, the Israeli occupation imposed a strict siege on Gaza. Egypt has been taking part in the siege, with the support of the international community.
About Hamas power in the occupied West Bank, Fatah and the Israeli occupation took turns to deter it as Fatah and the PA security services arrested Hamas members and pushed its employees out of their offices, including freely-elected heads of municipal councils.
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation arrested most of Hamas MPs from the PA-controlled areas across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
During a meeting with the US President Donald Trump, Abbas pledged to meet the demands of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which were passed to him via Trump.
In a meeting with the Arab ambassador in Washington, Abbas revealed that he was preparing for “unprecedented painful measures” against Gaza in an effort to drain Hamas’ resources.
Abbas recently warned he would cut salaries, aid and subsidies to Gaza to force Hamas to cede ground.
Earlier this week, his West Bank-based government announced it will stop paying for electricity Israel sends to power-starved Gaza.
Hamas says it would not bow to pressure from Abbas. Gaza residents took to the streets last week chanting against Abbas due to his punishing policies against them.
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