At the end of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the UN General Assembly meeting Sept. 27, thousands of Gaza Strip residents went out to the streets to demonstrate against him. At one protest near the Hamas government offices, “President Abbas does not represent us” appeared on several signs and protesters burned his picture.

The demonstrations were less spontaneous than they may have looked.

For a long time, anger and frustration at Abbas have been common in Gaza as well as a sense that he has abandoned them. The Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank were less interested in the things Abbas said about President Donald Trump’s peace plan than on Abbas’ threat to step up sanctions against Hamas.

The curses and de-legitimization accorded to Abbas this last week from Hamas leaders made new records. The deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk, tweeted that for Abbas to be allowed to speak in the name of the Palestinians, he had to make big changes before leaving for the UN: halt his sanctions against Gaza, stop security coordination with Israel and unite the Palestinian people. As far as Hamas is concerned, Abbas represents only himself when he punishes half of the Palestinian people and collaborates with the enemy.