PA dismisses Israeli threat, vows to move forward with Hamas unity deal
Spokesman for Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas says that despite what Israel says, the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation will march onward.
By HAGAY HACOHEN, YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUAUpdated: OCTOBER 18, 2017 07:58Shadi Abu Obeid (L), a member of the Palestinian Fatah movement, is greeted by a relative in Gaza City after his release from a Hamas prison on October 1, 2017.(photo credit: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
"Any Israeli remarks will not change the official Palestinian position to move forward with the reconciliation efforts,” said PA presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh on Tuesday after the Israeli cabinet stated that it will not negotiate with a Hamas-based Palestinian government. According to the Palestinian News Agency Wafa, he stressed that reconciliation efforts are being conducted “In order to achieve the national project, end the occupation and establish the independent Palestinian state on all the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”The Israeli cabinet stated on Tuesday that until Hamas disarms and meets a list of conditions it will not enter negotiations with the Palestinian Authority as it is tainted by association with Hamas, which is a terrorist organization.International reactions, however, differed from the reserved Israeli stance concerning the end to the rift between the Palestinian factions.The EU applauded the Cairo agreements in a statement, with EU representatives extolling the push by the PA to "assume its responsibilities in Gaza.'' Rudeineh added that what was agreed on in Cairo is moving in the right direction toward ending the division between Hamas and Fatah. The spokesman also stressed that “any Israeli remarks will not change [that].”Hazam Kasam, who is the Hamas spokesperson, said that "the conditions [set] by the occupation reveals that Israel is greatly injured by the reconciliation." According to Kasam, "this is not a new attitude for Israel."
