Senior Hamas MP Fathi Hammad on Wednesday accused Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, along with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) unity government Hamas formed with Abbas, of being part of the “siege” on Gaza.

Hammad, formerly Hamas Interior Minister, told the Palestinian Arab Ma’an News Agency that Abbas and the unity government are cooperating with the blocking of reconstruction materials into Gaza – those materials are being used to rebuild Hamas’s terror tunnels for attacking Israeli civilians.

He also complained that the PLO unity government must be called to task for the promise to hold elections within six months of being formed, a timeline that has ended with the government having been sworn in last June.

While the Hamas and PA unity government has shown instability since the two sealed a rapprochement deal last April, torpedoing peace talks with Israel, Hamas this Wednesday reactivated its parliament in Gaza, showing the unity government’s days may be numbered.

That move came a day after employees of the former Hamas-run government protested their lack of payment over the last eight months at a unity government cabinet meeting, announcing they were launching a hunger strike.

Hammad took his dissatisfaction with Abbas a step further, threatening that if the unity government doesn’t “stand beside Gaza” and do something about the blockade, it could lead to a “popular explosion.”

The threat comes after Hamas threatened the world, warning that if payments to rebuild Gaza aren’t funneled over, Gaza might “become” a hotbed of extremism and terrorism. 

Hamas and the PA have long been at odds, after Hamas violently kicked out Abbas’s Fatah from Gaza in 2007 following elections in which it won. Most recently, Hamas tried to stage a violent coup in Judea and Samaria against the PA, further highlighting the emptiness of the unity agreement.