By contrast, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), who embraces peace negotiations with Israel and disavows armed struggle, is more isolated than ever, despite his success in upgrading Palestine’s status at the United Nations to that of “non-member observer state” days after the fighting in Gaza ended. Hamas initially reacted skeptically to the statehood bid, but supported it after the cease-fire, owing to its expectation that it will be able to exploit Palestine’s upgraded status.