Greek and Italian MPs meet with Mishaal, call for recognizing Hamas

Heads of Greek and Italian parliamentary delegations stated after meeting with Khaled Mishaal, the head of the Hamas political bureau, in Damascus that they recognize the legitimacy of Hamas and respect the democratic choice of the Palestinian people.

In a press statement following the meeting on Wednesday evening, Giorgos Anagnostopoulos, the head of the Greek delegation, called for protecting the Palestinian rights that are violated by Israel all over Palestine and for respecting the will of the Palestinian people and their democratic choice.

Anagnostopoulos added that there will be no peace without justice, stressing the need to reconstruct the Gaza Strip without any delay or linking the reconstruction issue with other files.

The Greek lawmaker called on the Israeli government to immediately release all Palestinian prisoners in its jails and to break the siege immediately in order to deliver assistance to the Gaza people.

He also underlined that the European states realized that Hamas could not be ignored when talking about the Palestinian cause, pointing out that the main task now for the European delegates is to reconstruct war-torn Gaza.

For his part, Fernando Rossi, the head of the Italian delegation, said that Hamas is a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, deploring the Israeli actions against the Movement.

Rossi criticized the Arab countries for keeping their relations with Israel despite what happened in Gaza, saying that there is no justification for establishing relations with those who commit war crimes against the Palestinian people.

A member of the Hamas political bureau Sami Khater welcomed the visiting delegations, describing these visits as courageous and pave the way for more European openness to Hamas.