GAZA CITY, April 24, 2025 – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has publicly urged Hamas to release all hostages held in Gaza, arguing their continued captivity gives Israel justification to escalate military attacks in the war-ravaged territory. His remarks come amid intensifying Israeli airstrikes that killed at least 25 people on Wednesday, including civilians sheltering in a school.
In a speech delivered from Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, Abbas criticized Hamas for prolonging the conflict and increasing the suffering of Palestinian civilians. “Hamas has given the criminal occupation excuses to commit its crimes in the Gaza Strip, the most prominent being the holding of hostages,” he said.
He made a direct appeal, referring to one of the captives, American-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander, reportedly listed in recent ceasefire proposals. “My brother, just hand them over,” Abbas pleaded. “Every day there are deaths. Why? Because they refuse to hand over the American hostage.”
Using harsh language, Abbas added, “You sons of dogs, hand over what you have and get us out of this ordeal.”
His comments triggered backlash from Hamas officials. Senior Hamas figure Bassem Naim condemned Abbas’s statement as “insulting,” accusing the president of wrongly blaming Hamas while ignoring Israeli aggression.
Later that day, Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, released video footage claiming to show an Israeli hostage alive in a Gaza tunnel. The man identified himself as Omri Miran, 48.
Tensions between Abbas’s Fatah party and Hamas have remained high for nearly two decades, marked by deep divisions over leadership, strategy, and political legitimacy. Both sides have frequently accused one another of undermining Palestinian unity.
Meanwhile, Israel continued its military offensive across the Gaza Strip. Civil defense officials reported that at least 11 people were killed in a strike on Yaffa school in Gaza City’s Al-Tuffa neighborhood, which had been serving as a shelter for displaced families. “The bombing sparked a massive blaze, and several charred bodies have since been recovered,” said Mahmud Bassal, a civil defense spokesman.
An AFP journalist at Al-Shifa hospital witnessed grieving families collecting the remains of victims wrapped in white shrouds. “We want nothing more than for the war to end, so we can live like people in the rest of the world,” said Khan Yunis resident Walid Al-Najjar. “We are a people who are poor, devastated — our lives are lost.”
Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel that killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials, Israel has responded with a sustained military campaign. The health ministry in Gaza, governed by Hamas, now reports a total death toll of at least 51,305, with 1,928 of those deaths occurring since hostilities resumed on March 18.
The humanitarian crisis continues to deepen, with more than 2 million residents in Gaza displaced and critical shortages of food, water, and medical supplies. On Wednesday, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, and Britain issued a joint statement urging Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.
“We urge Israel to immediately restart a rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza in order to meet the needs of all civilians,” the statement read, warning of “an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death.”
Despite ongoing talks in Cairo involving Egyptian and Qatari mediators, hopes for a renewed ceasefire remain uncertain.