Hamas fighters routed Fatah in their violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last week. The split prompted Abbas to dissolve the power-sharing government with his rivals in Hamas and set up a Fatah-led administration to govern the West Bank.
Carter said the consensus of the United States, Israel, and the EU to start funneling aid to Abbas's new government in the West Bank but continue blocking Hamas in the Gaza Strip represented an effort to divide the Palestinian people.
"All efforts of the international community should be to reconcile the two, but there's no effort from the outside to bring the two together," he said.
The United States and EU cut off the Hamas-led government last year because of the Islamic militant group's refusal to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist. They have continued to send humanitarian aid to Gaza through the United Nations and other organizations.
During his speech to Ireland's annual Forum on Human Rights, the 83-year-old former president said monitors from his Carter Center observed the 2006 election that Hamas won. He said the vote was orderly and fair and Hamas triumphed, in part, because it was "shrewd in selecting candidates," whereas a divided, corrupt Fatah ran multiple candidates for single seats.
Far from encouraging Hamas's move into parliamentary politics, Carter said the United States and Israel, with EU acquiescence, sought to subvert the outcome by shunning Hamas and helping Abbas to keep the reins of political and military power.
