Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack for the first time on Tuesday, while reiterating his call for the terror group to release the remaining hostages in Gaza.

“What Hamas did in October 2023 in killing and taking civilians hostage is unacceptable and condemnable and Hamas must immediately release all hostages,” Abbas wrote in a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who this month will co-chair a UN conference aimed at advancing a two-state solution.

While Abbas has long rejected violence as a means for advancing Palestinian self-determination, he has refrained from specifically publicly condemning Hamas’s actions on October 7, with at least one of his aides arguing that he wouldn’t do so while Israel’s wide-scale offensive in Gaza was ongoing.

But Abbas is also looking to gain support from the international community so that the PA can replace Hamas as the governing authority in Gaza.

In recent months, he has repeatedly condemned Hamas, while also instituting a series of reforms, including one that would end the PA’s controversial policy of rewarding the families of Palestinian security prisoners and slain terrorists who had carried out attacks against Israelis.

Abbas’s letter comes a week before the........

© The Times of Israel