Middle East peace envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump Jason Greenblatt slammed the Palestinians for “hypocrisy” on Thursday, following accusations by a Palestinian Authority official that American efforts to ease a humanitarian crisis in Gaza intended to create a divide between Gaza and P.A.-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria.
On Monday, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, aide to P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas, issued a statement warning Arab nations not to cooperate with the United States, whose intent, he said, was to create a divide in Palestinian society.
“The Palestinian leadership warns the countries of the region against cooperating with a move whose goal is to perpetuate the separation between Gaza and the West Bank and lead to concessions on Jerusalem and the holy sites,” the statement said, according to reports.
Greenblatt admonished the P.A, official in a tweet.
“Hamas & the PA, who have been fighting one another for over a decade, are each cynically claiming that the US is trying to divide Gaza and the West Bank, instead of acknowledging that we are trying to help the Palestinians in Gaza,” he wrote on Thursday. “What hypocrisy.”
The fundraising effort for Hamas-controlled Gaza is an item on the agenda of Greenblatt and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, who are on tour in the Middle East to discuss areas of interest to Trump.
According to reports, the fundraising drive would put money into developing an industrial area abutting Gaza in the northern Sinai desert, which would house a power station and factories to make products for Gaza residents.
The decline in humanitarian welfare has been attributed to Hamas’s deprioritizing of essential services, in favor of using funds for military and terror objects, and to Abbas, who has imposed severe budget cuts to the region in an effort to wrestle control away from Hamas.
On Tuesday, the American team met with Jordan’s King Abdullah, followed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday. They will also meet with Israeli officials, but not with Palestinian ones, due to Ramallah’s refusal to meet with any American officials since Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel in December.
In another Tweet on Thursday, Greenblatt insinuated that international donors are wary of pouring funding into Gaza while it remains in the control of Hamas.
“Hamas continues to fail the Palestinians of Gaza—arson kites & balloons & many mortar & rocket attacks directed against Israelis. How can the international community help when murderous Hamas leaders continue to squander the resources of Gaza? The people deserve better,” he wrote.
