Abbas calls on Gaza freedom groups to lay down arms

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on Hamas and its allies, the freedom groups fighting Israel in the besieged Gaza Strip, to lay down their arms. He made the call in a video message to a global conference held at the United Nations headquarters in New York, USA, on Monday (September 23). “Hamas and its allies must lay down their arms to the Palestinian Authority. We want a unified state – where ordinary citizens will not have any weapons, the state will be governed under the same laws and there will be a legitimate security force,” Abbas said.
He added, “An interim government will be formed within three months of the end of the Gaza war. The main responsibility of that government will be to organize presidential and parliamentary elections. Hamas will have no role in the governance. Hamas must lay down its arms to the Palestinian Authority.”
At the conference, Abbas called for a ceasefire, saying, “We must allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, release the hostages.”
He praised the mediation of Middle Eastern countries including Egypt, Qatar and Jordan and their opposition to the plan to displace Palestinians.
Abbas was unable to attend the UN General Assembly session in New York in person after the Trump administration revoked his visa. So he addressed the session via video message.