TEHRAN - President Mahmoud Abbas, who has led the Palestinian Authority (PA) for nearly two decades, has faced widespread criticism over his inaction toward Israeli atrocities against Palestinians both in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians and pro-Palestine groups across the world have accused him of rendering the Palestinian Authority into a toothless entity as Israel has expanded its settlements and intensified deadly violence. 

Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, has been under mounting pressure over his position toward a surprise military operation carried out by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7 which shattered the image of Israel’s invincibility. 

Since Hamas conducted the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation, support for the Palestinian resistance has been growing.

Back in February, Israel’s military intelligence circulated a document to Israeli leaders which stated that “authentic support remains” for Hamas among Gazans.

However, comments made by Abbas over the Hamas’ military operation clearly show that he has been detached from reality.  

In mid-October, the Wafa news agency cited Abbas as saying that “Hamas's policies and actions do not represent the Palestinian people, and the policies, programs and decisions of the (Palestine Liberation Organization) represent the Palestinian people as their sole legitimate representative."

His comments infuriated Palestinians who have been subjected to decades of Israeli atrocities. 

The Palestinian Authority’s security forces have attacked protesters who have taken to the streets of the West Bank to vent their anger at the policies adopted by Abbas toward Palestine, and the Gaza war. 

The chasm between the aspirations and values of the Palestinian people and the PA were highlighted following the reaction of Abbas to the remarks of Iran’s Leader over the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation.

Israeli plots 

On Monday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei once again praised the October 7 military operation by Hamas.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the Hamas attack happened exactly at the moment the region needed it and that there had been a plan “by the US, Zionist individuals, their followers and some of the region’s countries to change the equation in the region.”

Ayatollah Khamenei’s comments were apparently a reference to Israel’s plots to continue its normalization plans in West Asia. 
 

Political propaganda 

In response, Abbas made baseless accusations against Iran, claiming that the Islamic Republic is sacrificing the Palestinian lives to achieve its goals. 

According to a wartime opinion poll close to 90% of Palestinians demand that Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas step down. "These statements, which clearly declare that their goal is to sacrifice Palestinian blood and thousands of children, women and the elderly, and to destroy Palestinian land, will not lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinian people have been fighting and struggling for a hundred years, and they do not need wars that do not serve their ambitions for freedom and independence, and the preservation of Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian sanctities,” the office of the Palestinian president said in a statement. 

The comments attributed to Abbas are in line with attempts made by the US and Israel to demonize Iran. 

Iran has always provided spiritual support for Palestine and spared no effort to expose the heinous crimes perpetrated by the Israeli regime. 

Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in Gaza, but the PA is still pinning hopes on negotiations with the apartheid regime that has no scruples about butchering women and children. 

With regards to the establishment of a Palestinian state, Abbas has clung to the unrealized promises of the 1993 Oslo Accords.

But it has been crystal clear that Israel has used talks with Palestinians as a smokescreen to expand its illegal settlements and grab more Palestinian lands. 

The recent move by several European countries to officially recognize Palestine as a state is rooted in the stiff resistance put up by Palestinians amid the Gaza war that was launched by Israel after Hamas carried out its surprise operation in early October. 
 

PA in hot water 

The Palestinian Authority stands accused of ineffectiveness and corruption. 

Surveys suggest that the PA is deeply unpopular among Palestinians who see it as unable to provide security in the face of regular Israeli incursions into the occupied West Bank.  

According to a survey carried out by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in December, more than 60% of Palestinians want the PA to be dissolved. The opinion poll also revealed that nearly 90% of respondents want President Abbas to resign.
 

Mouthpiece of Israel, US

Such studies throw a spotlight on the fact that Abbas is out of touch with the increasing desperation of the Palestinian people.

Palestinians have realized that they can liberate their lands from the Israeli occupation and bring an end to the regime’s apartheid rule through resistance. 

Resistance groups such as Hamas have been a thorn in the side of the Israeli regime and the United States.  

Israel and its Western allies have waged smear campaigns against resistance groups and countries like Iran which support Palestinians. 

With regards to the comments made by President Abbas, it seems he has become a mouthpiece of Tel Aviv and Washington. 

His statements could also amount to a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause because of his harsh rhetoric against resistance groups.  

Presently, Abbas has resorted to a blame game to divert attention away from the Palestinian Authority’s surrender to Israel.  

Nonetheless, those who tout negotiations to whitewash Israel’s crimes will fall into utter disgrace.