BICOM

An apparent leaked transcript of a meeting in Qatar between Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Qatar’s Emir Tamim Al Thani indicates serious mistrust between Abbas and Hamas.

During Operation Protective Edge, Abbas travelled to Qatar to meet with Hamas leaders and try to agree a common position to work towards a ceasefire. The Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar yesterday published what it said were transcripts from one such meeting.

Abbas is quoted complaining about Hamas that, “They issue fatwas as they like and use religion to serve their interests.” He also said that Hamas had carried out the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish Israeli youths in the West Bank in June, accusing Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who later joined the meeting of “Lies and beating around the bush” on the issue.

In addition, Abbas said that Hamas has been attempting to stage a coup against his rule in the Palestinian areas of the West Bank. Last month, Israel’s Shin Bet security service said that it had uncovered a Hamas cell planning to foment violence in the West Bank as a launching pad for a coup. According to the report, Abbas said that Israeli forces informed him of the Hamas plan, commenting, “Hamas’s goal is to destroy the West Bank and create chaos in order to stage a coup against us. Hamas wants to drive me crazy.” Mashaal reportedly responded, “You must not build a theory or base a position on an Israeli story that talks about a coup.”

Abbas apparently further complained about Hamas, accusing them of conspiring with his rival Mohammed Dahlan, who was expelled from Abbas’s Fatah faction and lives in the United Arab Emirates. Abbas added, “They [Hamas] have no relation to Islam, from their highest ranking sheikh to the youngest of them. Many Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, asked me to marginalize Hamas and were opposed to my reconciliation deal with it.”