Abu Marzouk: Reconciliation does not mean annexing Gaza to the West Bank

Dr Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior official in Hamas’s political bureau, has rejected the idea of the formation of a new Palestinian government on the basis of annexing the Gaza Strip to the occupied West Bank.

In a press statement to Al-Quds newspaper, Abu Marzouk said, “reconciliation does not mean annexing the Gaza Strip to the West Bank and forming a new government; the reconciliation will be achieved by agreeing to a national unity government and independent technocrats.”

He added, “This means that the members of the security agencies in Gaza and the West Bank and its staff will remain the same, and the issues of those expelled and suspended from the security agencies and public offices will be resolved and their conditions will be improved.”

Abu Marzouk also called for “determining security and national policies, as well as restructuring the Palestinian security agencies, with the help of Egypt and other Arab countries.”

He stressed the need to resume the Palestinian Legislative Council’s work and to restore all its powers.

Furthermore, he suggested that the new unity government “will be responsible for preparing new comprehensive elections that will determine the president, legislative council and the national council, and this will be done by means of cooperating with committees and institutions in the Palestine Liberation Organisation.”

With regards to the position of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement’s boycott of the elections, Abu Marzouk said, “I would advise our brothers in Islamic Jihad not to be quick to boycott the upcoming elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”

He went on to say that: “Today’s political structure will be different to that of the future. The political decisions must coincide with the political environment. Our brothers in Islamic Jihad decided too quickly to determine their position and it will not benefit them. When elections are upon us, then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”