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Abbas walks back criticism of Hamas, won’t condemn terror

Apparently in an effort to minimize damage to relations with the terror group, Abbas’ office re-released his statement with a softened message.

By World Israel News Staff

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who has steadfastly refused to condemn the Hamas terror group for its brutal incursion into Israel, which killed 1,400, quietly edited a statement in order to further soften his criticism of the attacks.

After facing intense international pressure to speak out against the mass rape, kidnap, and slaughter of Israeli civilians and foreign nationals that occurred on October 7th, Abbas released a milquetoast statement in which he claimed that Hamas’ actions and policies “do not represent the Palestinian people.”

In the statement, Abbas also emphasized that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which he heads, is the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”

Octogenarian Abbas has refused to hold national elections for 15 years and is wildly unpopular among his constituents, the vast majority of whom told pollsters they would prefer to be governed by Hamas.

Apparently in an effort to minimize damage to relations with the terror group, Abbas’ office re-released his statement with a softened message.

Rather than stating that Hamas’ murderous actions don’t represent the Palestinians, the edited message asserts that Abbas “stressed that policies of the Palestine Liberation Organization represent the Palestinian people as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and not the policies of any other organization.”

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On the day of the mass murders, Abbas’ administration released a statement placing blame for the massacres solely on Israel.

“Israel’s disavowal of the signed agreements and noncompliance with international legitimacy resolutions led to the destruction of the peace process and the absence of a solution to the Palestinian issue after 75 years of suffering and displacement,” read a statement from the PA Foreign Ministry.

“The continuation of the policy of double standards, the silence of the international community regarding the criminal and racist practices of the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people, and the continuation of the injustice and oppression that the Palestinian people endure is the reason behind the explosive situation and the absence of peace and security in the region.”

After Abbas engaged in an antisemitic, Holocaust-denying diatribe, Paris stripped the Palestinian leader in September of a special honor he had been awarded by the city.