The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has criticized the meeting between the Prime Minister in Ramallah and the Israeli Defence Minister. Salam Fayyad’s meeting with Ehud Barak is, claims Hamas, merely a response to American pressure intended to enhance Israel’s image.
In a statement issued on 5 July, Hamas said, “We in the movement condemn this meeting, and consider it as another step in security coordination with the illegal military occupation. It is just a new umbrella to hide Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people, who have been under siege in Gaza for four years, and provides cover for the rabid-Zionist settlement programme in the West Bank, at the top of which is the Judaization of Jerusalem.”
The statement described the meeting as a provocation to ordinary Palestinians. “A meeting between Fayyad and Barak does not represent the Palestinian people who reject any commitment that might result. It is a provocation to Palestinians who are being harassed and persecuted daily by the Israeli occupation’s Defence Minister and his security forces.”