Fatah, the predominant faction in the Palestinian Authority, accused its Hamas rivals on Monday of kowtowing to Washington and embracing US President Donald Trump's still unveiled Middle East peace plan.
In a statement, Fatah claimed that Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's recent trip abroad was nothing but a conspiracy aimed at "promoting" the Trump administration's so-called "deal of the century."
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Fatah also accused the Gaza-based terrorist organization of siding with Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The statement came a day after Hamas accused Fatah of helping Israel assassinate senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu Al-Ata. Hamas also claimed it had foiled a PA intelligence cell operating in Gaza.
The allegations were rejected by senior PA officials, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas and chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, who dismissed them as lies aimed at preventing Palestinian elections.
On Monday, Hamas fired back at Fatah, similarly accusing the movement of trying to prevent a Palestinian general election, which would pit the two factions against each other.
Abbas announced the plan to hold an election in his address to the UN General Assembly in September.
Last Tuesday, the PA said its heralded national election must also be held in east Jerusalem, raising a demand on which a still-unscheduled vote could hinge.
The Palestinians' last parliamentary ballot in 2006 resulted in a surprise win by Hamas, widening an internal political rift that led to the Islamist terrorist group's seizure of the Gaza Strip in 2007, and contributed to the long delay in setting further elections.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
