Gaza is appropriate place to hold PLO meeting, insists Haniyeh

The Deputy Leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, has called on the Palestine Liberation Organisation and all Palestinian factions to hold a PLO leadership committee meeting as soon as possible. He pointed out that Gaza is ready to host the meeting,writes MEMO correspondent Mohamed Asad.

Speaking at the Third Conference on Palestinian National Security held in Gaza City, Haniyeh insisted that if it is not possible to hold the PLO meeting in Cairo, then it is entirely “appropriate” for it and other meetings to be held in Gaza.

The former Palestinian prime minister used his speech to praise the “individual” counterattacks carried out by Palestinians to defend themselves and their rights against the “continuous violations” of the Israeli settlers and the occupation government.

He called for the establishment of a youth field leadership for the ongoing Palestinian intifada to cooperate among activists in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, noting that there is a need for “laying down specific goals” for the uprising. Reiterating his belief that the only way to regain Palestinian rights is the unity of the people and the reconsideration of the Palestinian resistance, the Hamas official stressed that the ongoing intifada has “affected the Israeli enemy strongly”.

Haniyeh added that there are two obstacles facing the uprising: the Palestinian Authority’s security and other cooperation with the Israeli occupation forces and its political measures aiming to “contain” the intifada. In closing, he called on all Palestinians to ignore the Oslo Accords, “which did not bring anything to the Palestinians except the siege, apartheid and settlements.”

Images by MEMO Photographer Mohammed Asad.