Hamas: Fatah leadership does not see Gazans as Palestinian

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is treating Gazans as though they are not Palestinian, said a Hamas spokesman on Wednesday.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem accused Abbas, whose presidency expired in 2009, of stalling national reconciliation by imposing "punitive measures against the Gaza Strip".

Abbas was criticised of "adopting separatist policies between Gaza and the West Bank and dealing with Gazans as though they are not Palestinian" as the humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza with a joint Israeli-Palestinian Authority (PA) energy blockade on the besieged enclave.

This comes days after Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah met with Hamas MPs from the Palestinian legislative council to discuss national reconciliation.

On Monday Hamdallah met with the Hamas delegation to discuss ways to end the decade-long political rivalry between the two Palestinian political factions.

He reiterated that Hamas must cease power in Gaza and abandoning control of the besieged enclave to the PA.

He added that Hamas must hold presidential and legislative elections in Gaza.

Gaza has effectively been under siege by Israel since Hamas came to power in 2007, but has received most of its electricity and fuel from Israel ever since - subsidised by the PA.

A similar blockade from the Egyptian side of the border has exasperated the problems for Gazans, with energy, food, fuel, medical supplies and building materials in short supply.

In April, the PA began to end energy payments, causing frequent power cuts in Gaza and severe pressure on regional hospitals.

The World Health Organisation warned in June that the blackouts threatened Gaza's health service provision and placed people's lives at real risk.

In order to reverse this trend however, Abbas said he was ready to resume payments in exchange for a power-sharing deal from Hamas.

Hamas published a rewrite of its charter in May, with a reconciliatory nod towards the PA - the first step towards reconciliation.

"Hamas emphasises the need to build Palestinian institutions and national platform on solid and correct democratic bases," the new charter reads.