Palestinian Authority condemns Hamas’ Gaza public executions

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said he utterly rejected extrajudicial executions recently carried out by the Hamas terror group. Hamas killed dozens of Palestinians and violated their human rights, he said, according to the Palestinian Authority's state-run news agency. Videos that Hamas posted to social media on Monday quickly proliferated, showing eight kneeling men gunned down in a public street. Hamas’ actions threatened the Palestinian people’s interests and undermined efforts to create a unified Palestinian state, Abbas said.

The Palestinian Authority oversees the West Bank from the city of Ramallah, and has claimed jurisdiction over the Gaza Strip. However, Israel and the United States have not favored the Palestinian Authority playing a role in building a new Palestinian state.

The executions came after reported clashes between Hamas and armed clans in Gaza. About 19 members of the Dughmush family and eight Hamas members died in fighting that began on Saturday, according to the BBC.

How did U.S. President Donald Trump react to the executions? Hamas took out bad gangs and killed some gang members, Trump said on Tuesday. He also said he believed Hamas would voluntarily disarm in accordance with his 20-point peace plan. If not, the United States or allies would quickly take action, he said.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report on the challenges of bringing Israeli hostages’ remains out of Gaza.