The Palestinian Hamas movement will resort to a “major popular escalation” to retaliate to the failure of the truce with Israel, revealed Palestinian sources. They told Asharq Al-Awsat that the movement will “breathe new life” into the marches of return that were being held on the Gaza-Israel border. The party is also considering the possibility of relaunching incendiary kites against Israeli territory. The sources explained that the escalation is aimed at returning attention to the poor state of affairs in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, after the failure of the Israel truce talks. They added that Hamas was angered with the end of the talks, blaming Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the failure. “Hamas believes that mediators will once again take action if Israel comes under pressure. The truce proposals were made after it came under pressure” so a similar scenario could take place in the future, they predicted. The talks were sponsored by Egypt and were taking place between Palestinian factions and Israel. They ended in failure after Abbas threatened that he will not allow the truce in Gaza to hold because he believed that it would pave the way for a separation from the West Bank. The Israeli-occupied West Bank is controlled by Abbas’ Palestinian Authority. Abbas had also expressed concern that a truce in Gaza between Hamas and Israel would pave the way for the implementation of the so-called “Deal of the Century.” Palestinian Liberation Organization executive committee official and senior Abbas aide, Ahmed Majdalani told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Palestinian leadership “will not fund the separation as it did the coup.” He made his remarks in reference to Hamas’ takeover of Gaza in 2007 and as a veiled threat that Abbas will stop funding to the coastal enclave if the movement went ahead with a truce with Israel. The PA spends less than 100 million a month on Gaza. Abbas had informed Egyptian officials that he will completely cut off the funding if Hamas signs a deal with Israel. He demanded that Palestinian reconciliation be achieved ahead of any such truce because the PLO alone is entitled to sign a deal with Israel.