Palestinian leader demands Hamas release remaining hostages

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas demanded Hamas disarm, relinquish powerfulness and merchandise the hostages.

The Palestinian person said that by letting the hostages go, Hamas would "shut down" Israel’s "excuses" to proceed the warfare that began aft the panic group's massacre connected Oct. 7, 2023.

"The archetypal precedence is to halt the warfare of extermination successful Gaza. It indispensable beryllium stopped – hundreds are being killed each day," Abbas said, according to the Times of Israel. "Why don’t you manus implicit the hostages?" 

The Palestinian Authority president besides seemingly called Hamas "sons of dogs" during his address.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas holds a enactment gathering successful Ramallah, successful the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 23, 2025. (Reuters/Mohammed Torokman)

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Abbas was speaking astatine a gathering of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council, which is expected to prime a lawman who could beryllium a successor to the 89-year-old PA president.

This marks the archetypal clip since the commencement of the warfare successful Gaza that Abbas has called connected Hamas to transportation its authorization to the PA, according to Reuters, but helium has done truthful successful the past. 

Palestinians locomotion done the demolition caused by the Israeli aerial and crushed violative successful Jabalia exile campy successful the bluish Gaza Strip connected Feb. 12, 2025. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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It is unclear whether Hamas volition comply with Abbas’ demand, contempt his assertion that it could assistance extremity the warfare and prevention Palestinian lives successful Gaza. Hamas and the PA person been astatine likelihood for astir 2 decades, since the panic enactment seized powerfulness successful 2006 and pushed the PA retired of Gaza.

The planetary assemblage has pushed for the PA to play a relation successful a "day after" program for Gaza, but Israel has not been receptive to this idea.

President Donald Trump and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Fox News | Saudi Press Agency via AP)

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The Israeli authorities and the Trump administration person agelong criticized the PA’s "pay for slay" policy, which Abbas reformed successful February of this year. The argumentation saw payments spell to household members of Palestinians who were imprisoned, killed oregon injured successful transportation with attacks against Israelis.

"This is simply a caller fraudulent instrumentality by the Palestinian Authority, which intends to proceed making payments to terrorists and their families done different outgo channels," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said astatine the time, according to Axios.