Khater: Hamas is keen on achieving national reconciliation

Khater: Hamas is keen on achieving national reconciliation

AMMAN, — Sami Khater, member of Hamas’s political bureau, said on Thursday that his Movement was keen to end the Palestinian political rift, but he accused certain parties of exploiting the reconciliation for election purposes only.

In an interview with the Jordanian Al-Sabeel newspaper, Khater explained that the announcement of Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas that he wouldn’t contest the PA presidency elections was indeed a political message to the United States and the Israeli occupation government and not to Hamas because he was disappointed by the US position on Israeli settlements.

“Everyone knows that Abbas was wagering on resuming the negotiations with the Israeli occupation on condition the IOA would freeze settlement building and he insisted on that condition because it was also the position of the United States before it reneged on it later on,” Khater pointed out.

However, Khater added, “Abbas was politically embarrassed with a series of setbacks that put him in political dilemma, including the clear rejection of Israeli premier Binyamin Netanyahu to freeze settlement activities, the overwhelming anger of the Palestinian people and the free people of the world over his decision to withdraw support for the Goldstone report at the UNHRC, and the statement of Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state that she would deal with Abbas in any political position he might assume among other setbacks that pushed him to take such position in order to pressure the US administration, so, the message wasn’t for Hamas”.

In this regard, Khater reiterated his Movement’s readiness to contest the PA legislative and the presidency elections but he insisted that the elections should be held in a healthy atmosphere and after Palestinian unity is restored in order to have correct, stable, and applicable election results.

“Nevertheless, when Abbas issued his edict on the date of the elections he was indirectly telling us “I’am not concerned with the reconciliation matter… all what I want is the elections only”.

On the prisoners’ swap deal with the Israeli occupation, Khater underlined that the German mediator was involved in the negotiations on the request of the IOA, adding that Hamas was and still is ready to achieve such deal if the conditions put forward by Shalit’s captors are met

“We shall keep in touch with the German mediator in the coming days in order to achieve the deal,” the Hamas official concluded.