Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's advisor emphasized that the authority does not accept anyone using the "issue" for personal agendas. Mahmoud al-Habbash stated to "Al Arabiya" on Wednesday that "only the Palestine Liberation Organization has the right to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people." He also added that Hamas was not established for the Palestinian cause. He further remarked that "the statement issued by Hamas regarding the role of security forces at Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip is trivial," questioning, "Was there anyone who could enter the Al-Shifa compound?" He asserted that "Hamas's Interior Ministry statement regarding the security forces in Al-Shifa aims to create chaos." He stressed, "We do not seek Hamas's permission or anyone else's to provide aid in Gaza." He noted that "both Hamas and Israel prevent the authority from delivering assistance in Gaza to the same extent."
These statements come after the "Hamas Interior Ministry" accused the Palestinian authority on Monday of "sending a security force to Gaza in coordination with Israel." A senior official in "Hamas's Interior" claimed that "the security forces in Gaza arrested a security force that had completely coordinated its actions with the occupation, which infiltrated as Egyptian Red Crescent trucks entered through the Rafah crossing in the southern sector, then infiltrated into northern Gaza," according to the statement. It was further alleged that "Major General Majed Farraj (head of Palestinian intelligence) managed the force's operations in a deceptive security manner, misleading the Palestinian factions and tribes." It was also claimed that "the Egyptian side informed the crossings authority that it was unaware of the security force that received the Egyptian trucks and disclaimed full responsibility for it." Later, the Hamas Interior Ministry announced the arrest of 10 members of the force that arrived "with the aim of creating confusion and chaos within the internal front" in Gaza, as it described.
In response, the authority at that time stated that the statement from "what is known as the Hamas Interior Ministry regarding the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip is baseless." An official Palestinian source confirmed in a statement conveyed by the Palestinian news agency "Wafa": "We will continue to provide all that is necessary to assist our people, and we will not be drawn into frenzied media campaigns that cover up the suffering of our people in Gaza, who face killing, displacement, and starvation." He added, "We reaffirm our commitment to our people once again, and we say to the voices (of Hamas) and those who promote it that the suffering of our people and their bleeding blood and the total destruction of the sector are greater than partisanship and narrow projects."
