Palestinian militant groups demanded an apology Tuesday from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for condemning Monday's deadly suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, in their harshest criticism yet of the moderate leader over his stand on violence. The criticism, including from armed groups within Abbas' own Fatah party, underscored a growing debate among Palestinians over the use of violence against Israel. "We ask President Abbas to apologize to the entire Palestinian people because of the offense he committed," the groups said in a joint statement by a coalition of militants read by a masked gunman at an open-air news conference in Gaza.
Abbas said Monday that the attack, which killed nine people, ran counter to Palestinian interests. But he used stronger wording than usual, describing the attack as "despicable."
The militant groups objected to his wording, saying that it was insulting to Palestinian "martyrs who sacrificed their lives and souls. Abu Mazen [Abbas] should have condemned the killings of our people and fighters rather than condemning Palestinian acts of self-defense," the statement said, issued in the name of three Fatah-linked groups and the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella group of Palestinian militants.