Hamas MPs not invited to meeting of Palestinian National Council

A senior Hamas MP in the occupied West Bank said on Sunday that the leadership of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) has not invited any MPs from the movement to attend the council meeting scheduled for mid-September, Alamatonline.net reported on Sunday.

“The leadership of the PNC has not yet invited Hamas MPs,” revealed Hassan Yousef. “This is a coup against Palestinian legitimacy, which is represented by Hamas as the largest parliamentary bloc.” According to Yousef, who has recently been released from an Israeli jail, this “proves” that there is a monopoly on Palestinian decision-making by a “certain party”.

Palestinian MPs are automatically members of the Palestinian National Council. However, Yousef insists that even if Hamas MPs were invited, they would not attend the PNC meeting.

“This is not the right way to deal with Palestinian issues,” he explained. “Furthermore, the convention of the PNC has nothing to do with the rearrangement of the Palestinian home; it is an attempt to reorganise the power of a certain party.”