Haneyya: The ball is now in the court of Israel to reach calm

Ismail Haneyya, the premier of the PA caretaker government, stated Wednesday that the ball is now in the court of the Israeli occupation as far as calm is concerned, reiterating that any truce must be reciprocal and comprehensive including Gaza and the West Bank and within a Palestinian national consensus.

In a speech during the inauguration of a specialized children hospital, Haneyya also underlined that the truce must confirm the territorial integrity of Palestine and the unity of its people, adding the mechanisms for its implementation is conditional on stopping the Israeli aggression, lifting the siege and opening the crossings.

The premier said that the truce also directly depends on the national consensus of the Palestinian resistance factions, pointing out that there are open channels with all resistance factions in order to reach a consensus.

The premier renewed the acceptance of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital providing that there should be no Israeli settlement outposts in Jerusalem, adding that Israel should also recognize the Palestinian refugees” rights to return.

Regarding the approval of conducting a referendum on a peace agreement between the PA and the Israeli occupation, the premier explained that this referendum must be held after considering three controls, the first one that it should be held after ending the internal discord, secondly, it should be submitted to the Palestinian people at home and abroad, and finally, any agreement with Israel should not surrender the Palestinian constants.

The premier also lashed out at the US policies in the region and charged that the current American administration is working on contaminating the region through its schemes of the creative chaos which are based on the denial of democracies and on destabilizing the national unity of any people rejecting its policies, highlighting that Hamas would never bow to the American administration or the Israeli occupation.