Israel slams Abbas, stalled unity in UN letter

Israel sent a letter to the United Nations Thursday slamming President Mahmoud Abbas for failing to condemn Wednesday's rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and his lack of authority over the Hamas-run territory, Israeli media reported. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor said in the letter to the UN secretary-general and Security Council that "silence from the Palestinian Authority is unacceptable," Israel's Haaretz newspaper said. "Israel is still waiting to hear President Abbas clearly condemn Hamas for the terror that continues to flow from Gaza," Prosor's letter said. A grad rocket landed near the Israeli city of Ashdod on Wednesday, causing no injuries or damage, the Israeli army said. Warplanes targeted Gaza early the following day, causing no injuries. Abbas's government is based in the West Bank, while Gaza has been ruled by his Hamas rivals since 2007. A reconciliation deal signed in May has yet to be implemented, with the latest round of talks set for early November between Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal. The Israeli envoy's letter said Abbas's bid for Palestinian statehood at the UN was undermined by the stalled progress of the deal. "The Palestinians are far from meeting the basic criteria for statehood, particularly the test of effective control," he wrote, according to Haaretz. Rocket fire shows the PA "has absolutely zero authority in the Gaza Strip," Prosor said. "So-called Palestinian unity has been -- and remains -- a virtual reality." Israeli leaders have fiercely opposed the unity deal signed in Cairo, which set out a path to reconcile Gaza and the West Bank under an independent government of technocrats. The day the agreement was signed, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that the agreement was a mistake, telling Palestinians that they could choose between "Hamas and peace." A day before Prosor's letter, Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour wrote to the Security Council complaining that the Israeli foreign minister's calls for President Abbas to be removed constitute "incitement." "Such threats must be directly confronted," Mansour wrote. The Security Council is poised to report on the Palestinian application for full membership of the UN on Nov. 11.