The Palestinian Authority government on Tuesday called on Hamas to transfer full control of the Gaza Strip to it “all at once.” The PA government made the statement a day after President Mahmoud Abbas suggested he would cut all budgets allocated to Gaza if the PA does not take full control of the coastal territory. Senior member of Fatahs Central Committee Azzam al-Ahmad said that Abbas’s speech, in which he accused Hamas of being involved in the assassination attempt of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah, marks the beginning of a new phase. Abbas accused Hamas of carrying out the roadside bombing that struck Hamdallah and PA General Intelligence Services Majid Faraj’s motorcade in the northern Gaza Strip last week. He also said that if Hamdallah and Faraj had died in the bombing, a bloody inter-Palestinian conflict would have broken out. Ahmad, who is responsible for the reconciliation file in Fatah, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the period before the assassination attempt is different from the period after it. “If the attempt succeeded, it would have been a major disaster,” Ahmad added. He also denied that the measures Abbas had promised to take were yet to be formulated, but he said it would be legal, economic and financial. “It is a very national goal, which is to end the division forever." "It is no longer possible to continue with this division at this historic and important stage of the conflict." He rejected Hamass accusations against the president regarding burning the bridges. "Hamas neither recognizes the PA nor the government, which is supposed to be responsible in the West Bank and Gaza," he said. “During their investigations, they did not address the attorney general, and they did not even recognize him.” “They have their own attorney general, and this is proof that they control everything in Gaza, and they do not recognize the legitimacy and do not want to hand over Gaza Strip to the government," Ahmad told Asharq Al-Awsat. “I want to hand over the Gaza Strip and end the division once and for all, not help in the liquidation of the Palestinian cause," he said. “Hamas shall hand over Gaza Strip to the government, and once this happens I will be the first person to confront any action against Gaza.” "It is necessary to hand over Gaza Strip and end the division once and for all instead of helping in the liquidation of the Palestinian cause,” Ahmad stressed.