Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas today called on Hamas to “quickly conclude” a deal to protect the Palestinian people from “the impact of a new disaster” after four months of war between Israel and the Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip.

“We call on the Hamas movement to quickly conclude the prisoner deal to save our Palestinian people from another disaster, no less dangerous than the Nakba of 1948,” he said, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, referring to the “catastrophe” (“nakba” in Arabic) that the creation of the state of Israel was for Palestinians, after which 760,000 Palestinians were forced to flee their homes during the first Israeli-Arab war.

Abbas also called on “the American government and the Arab brothers to work seriously on concluding the agreement (…) to save the Palestinian people from the horrors of this devastating war,” according to Wafa.

The president of the Palestinian Authority, whose headquarters are in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, added that he “holds everyone responsible for any obstacle that will be created by any side to disrupt the agreement.”

“The situation is no longer tolerable and it is time for everyone to take responsibility,” he said.

The Palestinian Authority was driven out of the Gaza Strip in 2007 by the Islamist movement Hamas, which had won elections there a year earlier. It is not participating in current talks for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which would include the release of hostages held in that Palestinian territory in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

Since yesterday, Tuesday, Egypt has been hosting representatives of the US, which is Israel’s main backer, and Qatar, where the Hamas leader is based, to discuss a new truce after a week-long one. in late November and had allowed the release of about 100 hostages.