"We regret the remarks made by the Palestinian Authority president during the [Arab] League Summit in Manama," said in a statement the Palestinian group, which launched a terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, causing nearly 1,200 deaths and around 250 hostages. For Hamas, in reaction to Abbas's statements, "the Zionist enemy does not wait for pretexts to commit its crimes." The operation launched on October 7, according to Hamas, "was the most important episode in the Palestinian people's fight against the occupation" of its territories, stressing that it has repeatedly insisted on the idea of achieving "national unity" among the various factions. In this sense, it states that it has shown flexibility in all phases to strengthen an "internal front" and "unify the national ranks in the face of the dangers that afflict" the common cause. "These events bring us closer to freedom and self-determination," Hamas highlights, arguing that the attacks on Israel have managed to place the Palestinian cause above other priorities. The president of the Palestinian Authority stated today that "the military operation carried out unilaterally by Hamas (...) gave Israel more pretexts and justifications to attack the Gaza Strip." Abbas said that Hamas's refusal to end the internal division "served Israel's plan", before October 7, to "perpetuate the separation of the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and Jerusalem." It also served to "prevent the creation of a Palestinian state and weaken the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization," he said. The attack triggered the current war between Israel and Hamas, with an Israeli military offensive that killed more than 35,200 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the government of the enclave overseen by the extremist group. Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it expelled Abbas's Fatah party from the Palestinian enclave after armed conflicts between the two sides following Hamas's victory in the 2006 elections. In another statement, Hamas today expressed gratitude to the member states of the Arab League for the joint declaration in which they demonstrated their support for the Palestinian population in the face of Israeli attacks and the population's aspirations for freedom and independence. In the same way, it appealed to all "brother Arab countries" to take "the necessary measures" to force Israel to "stop the aggression, withdraw its army from the entire Gaza Strip, including the Rafah crossing [in the south of the enclave], lift the siege and allow the return of the displaced and the reconstruction." Read Also: Gaza. Palestinian leader accuses Hamas of having "given pretexts" to Israel (Portuguese version)