BEIRUT, October 15. /TASS/. The administration of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has strongly condemned extrajudicial killings, committed by radical movement Hamas against civilians in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement published by the WAFA news agency.
"The Palestinian Presidency strongly condemned the recent field executions carried out by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of dozens of citizens outside the framework of the law and without fair trials," the statement says.
"These acts constitute a crime and a blatant violation of human rights, representing a grave breach of the rule of law and reflecting the movement’s determination to impose its authority through force and terror, at a time when the people in Gaza are enduring the hardships of war, destruction, and siege," it says.
Abbas’s administration has called to immediately end these atrocities, accusing Hamas of undermining the ongoing efforts to unify the institutions of the State of Palestine under one legitimate authority.
It called for "an immediate end to these violations, the protection of unarmed citizens, and the accountability of all those involved in these crimes within the framework of the law and the legitimate Palestinian judiciary."
The presidency held Hamas "fully responsible for these crimes that harm the supreme interests of the Palestinian people, as they seek to entrench Hamas’s control over the Gaza Strip, provide pretexts to the occupation, obstruct reconstruction, deepen division, and hinder the establishment of a free and independent State of Palestine."
The Asharq al Awsat newspaper wrote on Tuesday about clashes between Hamas militants and self-defense squads of Arab tribes, which occurred in Gaza City. According to the report, both sides suffered casualties in the violence, which broke out on October 11. As a result, Hamas forces drove self-defense squads from a Jordanian field hospital, which served as a shelter for their families.
On October 13, Hamas and other Palestinian groups released all the 20 living hostages and handed over the bodies of four deceased hostages under the Gaza ceasefire deal. The hostages were handed over to the Israeli military through the Red Cross and are already in Israel’s territory. In turn, Israel released 1,968 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life or long sentences.