Hamas Rejects Dissolving Unity Government

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Hamas, the Palestinian faction controlling the Gaza Strip, rejected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' announcement earlier this week dissolving the unity government formed last year.

Abbas, whose four-year term expired six-and-a-half years ago, resigned earlier this week, along P.A. Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. Abbas instructed Hamdallah to form a new government.

Some speculated that rumors of third-party "talks" between Israel and Hamas factored into Abbas' decision to dissolve the coalition, which since its formation has never functioned as a unity government.

The Fatah-Hamas unity government, by association, could be charged with war crimes for Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians last summer during Operation Protective Edge. That may also have contributed to Abbas' announcement.