Hamas slams Kerry proposed framework agreement

Palestine’s Islamic Resistance Movement has warned of the dangers embedded in the framework agreement proposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry. Hamas said that no force on earth can impose a solution that undermines the Palestinian people’s rights or their holy sites.

Safa news agency quoted a member of Hamas’s political bureau, Ezzat Rashq, as saying: “Hamas reiterates its warning of the dangers embedded in the framework plan proposed by the US Secretary of State. The plan aims to liquidate the Palestinian cause and reveals the shameless American bias towards the Israeli agenda.” This, he suggested, should not surprise anyone. “The US administration has never been an honest mediator in the peace process.”

Rashq demanded that the Palestinian Authority should oppose the plan and stop the absurd negotiations which, he said, serve as a cover for Israel to commit more crimes against the Palestinian people, their land and holy places. He called on “Arab states”, which he did not name, to stop pressuring the Palestinians to accept Kerry’s proposals and criticised the Palestinian negotiation team for not taking a tougher stance and rejecting the proposed framework.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO’s Executive Committee, revealed details of Kerry’s proposals to London-based Al-Hayat newspaper. It includes the requirement for the Palestinians to recognise Israel as a Jewish state and the effective abolition of the refugees’ right of return to their land.

Secretary Kerry’s proposed framework consists of nine clauses to serve as a permanent solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict, allowing Israel to maintain control over the major settlement blocs, to divide East Jerusalem and to resettle Palestinian refugees elsewhere. An economic clause will grant Israel control over a future State of Palestine’s economy.