Hamas calls on Palestinian Authority to withdraw UN statehood bid

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to withdraw a draft resolution it submitted to the UN Security Council demanding to set a timetable to end the Israeli occupation and establish a Palestinian state, Anadolu agency reported.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement on Sunday that, “the draft resolution is unacceptable and aims to liquidate the Palestinian cause. It contains massive concessions.” The resolution expresses the will of an influential group within the PLO and “does not reflect the national desire of our people,” he added.

Abu Zuhri pointed out that the draft resolution includes items that Hamas cannot accept, the most prominent being re-designating Jerusalem as the shared capital of the “so- called two-states”. Abu Zuhri stressed that in the eyes of Hamas, Jerusalem will remain the indivisible capital of Palestine.

Further, Abu Zuhri claimed that the draft’s “loose” wording regarding the Palestinian right of return would give Israel several loopholes to shirk this right. “The role of the United Nations is to restore rights and not to define them,” he said.

Abu Zuhri called on the Arab League “not to give the draft resolution a political cover and to protect the Palestinian cause from compromise.” He also called on Palestinian forces inside and outside Palestine to reject the resolution.

Last Wednesday, Jordan submitted a draft resolution on behalf of the Arab Group to the UN Security Council calling for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories. The resolution set a timetable to return the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 no later than 2017.

The United States announced that it “will not support” the resolution.