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Hamas denies contact with Dahlan

January 3, 2015 at 1:51 pm

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has denied having any contact with former Fatah official Mohamed Dahlan. Local newspaper reports reported that Hamas nevertheless stressed the importance of any efforts to support the Palestinian people. The comments in a Hamas press release were made in response to previous hints by Dahlan in his own statement marking Fatah’s 50th anniversary.

“Hatred and distortion of the corrupted people will never affect any contact with Hamas,” said Dahlan. “They will never shake my belief about the necessity to lift the siege and end the famine and marginalisation imposed by both [Palestinian Authority leader] Mahmoud Abbas and [Israeli PM] Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza.” Dahlan added that he hopes that contacts with Hamas will reinforce national reconciliation although they will “never” be an alternative to such reconciliation.

Often described as a “Fatah hard man”, Dahlan was expelled from the movement by Abbas in 2011. He is critical of the national reconciliation process. “It was authored, composed and sung badly by Mahmoud Abbas and his closed gang,” claimed Dahlan. “It was an agreement of interests and an agreement of reconciliation.” For the second time, he noted, Abbas is running to Gaza, but without a national vision or a loyal desire.

Moreover, Dahlan said that he supports any “real” Palestinian reconciliation that includes all the Palestinian factions, in addition to Hamas and Fatah. He called for reconciliation to be based on “a minimum political consensus and a full partnership regarding any vision or decision about peace and war.”