Fatah’s call for an escalation of peaceful resistance is an admission of the failure of the government to reach a peace deal for Palestinians, Hamas officials declared on Tuesday following a cabinet meeting in Gaza.

Fatah and the Palestinian Authority must now "apologize to the Palestinians for forcing them into a failed process that lasted 20 years," a statement from the Gaza government said, citing the continued occupation of the West Bank, the siege on Gaza, and the unfaltering settlement construction in the West Bank including East Jerusalem.

The comments followed announcements from members of Fatah's Central Committee calling for more popular resistance efforts in the wake of the mass detention of peaceful demonstrators in Bethlehem on Palm Sunday. Among those detained was PLO Executive Committee member Abbas Zaki, who remains in Israeli custody.