Abbas defends reconciliation agreement with Hamas

The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas defended the reconciliation agreement signed with Hamas saying the agreement does not contradict peace talks with Israel.

The agreement drew sharp criticism from Israeli officials who said the move reveals the Palestinians’ lack of desire to achieve peace.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted Abbas as saying: “The Palestinian people’s interest to preserve the unity of their land and people will contribute to strengthening and promoting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem.”

Abbas pointed out that such a move backed by international and Arab bodies will enhance the Palestinian negotiators’ ability to complete the two-state solution. This, he said, is fully consistent with the Arab peace initiative and the accords of Makkah, Doha and Cairo as well as with international legitimacy and the United Nations General Assembly resolution in 2012 to recognise the State of Palestine as a an observer state based on the 1967 borders.

The president noted that there is no contradiction between signing the Palestinian reconciliation agreement and the peace negotiations with Israel saying “we are committed to establishing a just peace based on the two-state solution in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy”.

In response to the agreement Israel’s prime minister’s office announced its decision to cancel the Israeli negotiating session, scheduled for today, between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiation teams under the auspices of the US envoy Martin Indyk in Jerusalem.

Several Israeli officials have sharply criticised the reconciliation agreement including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said Abbas should choose between peace with Israel or with Hamas.

Netanyahu told reporters during his meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz: “Does he [Abbas] want peace with Hamas or with Israel? Abbas cannot make peace with Hamas and with Israel. I hope he chooses peace which has not done until now.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman denounced the agreement saying: “You cannot make peace with Israel and also with Hamas – the terrorist organisation that calls to eliminate Israel.”

Lieberman said: “Signing a unity government agreement of Fatah and Hamas means signing the end of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett said: “Hamas will continue to kill Jews and Abu Mazen [Abbas] will continue to demand the liberalisation of the murderers. Those who believe that Abu Mazen is a partner should reconsider their positions.”

Transport Minister Yisrael Katz said that what happened today is “uniting forces between Abu Mazen and Hamas. The common denominator between them is hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. This is a slap in the face of the United States and its Secretary of State. Abu Mazen said no to peace, no to real negotiations.”

Source: Arabs48