Hamas slams Abbas despite condemnation of Gaza op
'Abbas has embraced Netanyahu's position on Gaza,' Hamas spokesperson says after Palestinian president condemns Gaza op but urges calm.
A spokesman for Hamas in Gaza Strip slammed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, despite the fact the latter condemned Israel's incursion into Gaza.
Abbas slammed Israel's offences, and said "the ground offensive will make ceasefire efforts more difficult." He sounded veiled criticism at Hamas, who rejected a UN and Egyptian proposed ceasefires, saying both parties must accept the Egyptian bid.
Hamas Spokesman Mushir al-Masri blamed Abbas, who has been active in working with Egypt and a number of EU nations to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, of capitulating to Israel's demands.
"Abu Mazan has embraced a position even Netanyahu accepts and has thus left the Palestinians and the bereaved families in a state of shock," Mushir al-Masri said.
Like other spokespeople for the terror group, al-Masri also said "Netanyahu has gotten himself into an uncalculated adventure."
Another Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, made similar comments, saying "The ground offensive does not scare us and we pledge to drown the occupation army in Gaza mud."
Azzam al-Ahmed, a Fatah spokesman, said Friday that "besides the Egyptian proposal, no other ceasefire bid is currently on the table."
Abbas is set to meet Friday in Cairo with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and then continue to Istanbul for a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Reccep Tayip Erdogan as part of ceasefire efforts.
The Palestinian United Nations envoy says he hopes "a very intensive negotiation" in Cairo might produce a cease-fire "in the hours to come" between Israel and Hamas.
Ambassador Riyad Mansour said in an interview with The Associated Press soon after Israel was reported to have launched a ground invasion into Gaza late Thursday that it "would increase and compound the number of casualties to a very exponential level."
He said Abbas met with leaders from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Egypt and other many others and he understood that US Secretary of State John Kerry was on his way to Egypt.
"We hope that an agreement and cease-fire to take place as quickly as possible before shedding the blood of one additional single Palestinian soul," Mansour said.
Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said Thursday night that the ceasefire efforts faced difficulties, but that the Palestinian president was not discouraged and the efforts were continuing.
The only way forward, Abu Rudeineh said, was to first stop the fire and then discuss the issues.
AP and Reuters contributed to this report
