Hamas welcomes AL reconciliation initiative; vows cooperation

Hamas welcomes AL reconciliation initiative; vows cooperation

Hamas Movement has welcomed Monday the initiative of the Arab League to reconcile Hamas and Fatah Movements, affirming that Hamas was and still is calling for Palestinian national reconciliation.


The Movement also welcomed the declaration of AL secretary-general Amre Mousa unveiling a comprehensive Arab initiative to effect Palestinian national reconciliation based on the Makka accord, the Cairo understandings, and the efforts exerted by Egypt in this regard, pledging to help bring the AL efforts into full success “if the second party (Fatah faction) positively reacted to those Arab efforts”.Arab foreign ministers meeting in the Egyptian capital Cairo authorized Mousa to start the reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah factions.


“Since the political crises started in the Palestinian arena, Hamas Movement called for an urgent Arab role to help arrange for inter- Palestinian national dialogue to put an end to the Palestinian political division, and to establish for genuine political partnership that advances Palestinian national interests over factional and personal gains” affirmed Hamas”s senior political leader and member of its political bureau Ezzat Al-Resheq in an exclusive interview with the PIC in the Syrian capital Damascus Monday.Resheq also made it clear that Hamas Movement was and still is amenable to national reconciliation, underlining “it was Fatah faction that imposed unwarranted   and difficult preconditions before the national dialogue could commence”.


“The national dialogue must be established on full respect of the Palestinian legitimacy represented by the PA presidency, the duly elected PLC, and the democratic PA unity government [under Premier Ismael Haneyya], and not to limit the Palestinian legitimacy to the presidency only”, Resheq furthermore asserted.Moreover, the prominent figure of Hamas expressed hopes that Abbas would return to the Palestinian mainstream and he would incline towards the Palestinian national interests and he would comprehend the dangers that engulfed the Palestinian national cause as a result of the Palestinian political impasse and the [uncalculated] PA hasty steps to engage with the Israeli occupation government in “futile” negotiations.


Finally, Resheq underscored, “As we [in Hamas Movement] welcome the declaration of Mr. Amre Mousa [of an Arab initiative to start reconciliation process], we affirm that we will exert all possible efforts to bring this Arab step into success in order to restore Palestinian national unity”.Osama Hamdan, the representative of Hamas Movement in Lebanon, uttered similar remarks as he affirmed that the initiative was free of conditions, affirming that imposing conditions for national dialogue would foil the entire initiative.


In Gaza Strip, Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, the spokesman of Hamas Movement, described the Arab Initiative as “important development in the right direction” although, he said, it came late.”The important thing in the initiative that it was officially endorsed by the Arab countries”, he explained.Mousa on Sunday declared in a press conference in Cairo that “Arab countries were unanimous that Palestinian unity is imperative to confront the relentless “Zionist” aggressions [against the Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip].