Haniyeh calls US 'an enemy of Islam'

PA prime minister says American decisions are influenced by Zionist lobby.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
haniyeh plc 224 (photo credit: AP [file])
haniyeh plc 224
(photo credit: AP [file])
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called the US an "enemy of Islam," an Iranian news agency reported on Wednesday. "Washington is doing its utmost to ensure the failure of the Hamas-led Palestinian government," claimed Haniyeh. The PA prime minister added that the US's decision to attack Muslims was "influenced by the Zionist lobby." He rejected the assessments of an imminent civil war between Hamas and Fatah, saying "We have only one enemy - the Israeli occupiers." Still, PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar rejected the ultimatum laid down last week by Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who warned he would take the initiative, drafted by Marwan Barghouti and other security prisoners, to a national referendum if Hamas did not accept it. Zahar called the referendum a waste of time and a waste of money. In another incident demonstrating tension in the Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian man suspected of collaborating with Israel was publicly executed on Tuesday by Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades gunmen. The man, Jafal Abu Tzrur, was accused of informing Israeli security service of the whereabouts of three fugitives. The three were later killed by the IDF.