Inaudible, considered disconnected from his people and faced with discontent from the streets, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appears as a collateral political victim of the war raging in Gaza between his rivals Hamas and Israel. Great architect of the Oslo peace process in 1993, which was to lead to the creation of a Palestinian state, the leader of the Palestinian Authority clings to this negotiated solution, despite the intensification of forced Israeli colonization in the West Bank .
Since the start of the war triggered on October 7 by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel from the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Abbas has remained very discreet, while many Palestinians, supporters of Hamas or not, welcomed on social networks what they consider to be “a humiliating defeat” of Israel, and showed their support for the group.
On October 16, a statement published by the official Palestinian agency in which Mahmoud Abbas affirmed that “the policies and actions of Hamas do not represent the Palestinian people” sparked indignant reactions, before being withdrawn. The next day, the disputed strike on the grounds of the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, which left dozens or even several hundred dead, triggered demonstrations in the West Bank. In Ramallah, hundreds of Palestinians protested, shouting “Abbas get out!” cleared ! » before being dispersed manu militari.