Hamas official blames US-Israel veto for hindering Palestinian reconciliation

A senior Hamas official has blamed what he calls the “US-Israel veto” on the movement’s participation in government for hindering Palestinian reconciliation. Talks between Fatah and Hamas have come to a standstill. According to Mousa Abu Marzook, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas insisted during his meeting with the Hamas leadership in Doha last month that his conditions must be met before reconciliation can happen. Hamas, however, rejects these conditions.

In an interview with Alaraby Aljadeed, Abu Marzook said that there is no room for any further meetings until Fatah changes its positions and the talks are based on what they had agreed to in the past. “There are,” he pointed out, “no scheduled reconciliation meetings.”

He emphasised that Hamas cannot turn its back on the reconciliation and will not abandon it, as the movement cannot leave the situation the way it is. When asked why the reconciliation agreements have not been implemented, he replied that the matter is in the hands of President Abbas. “Abu Mazen gives consideration to the international community and Israel above the desires of the Palestinian people regarding the reconciliation,” explained Abu Marzook. “He can end this issue, but he has the perspective of not wanting the PA and its institutions to be antagonised and fought, as Hamas is, and he does not want the blockade imposed on Hamas to be transferred to the government if Hamas becomes a part of it.”

Because there is an American and Israeli veto on Hamas’s participation in any level of the Palestinian government, said the Hamas official, the president does not want the Palestine Legislative Council (PLC) to meet, as Hamas is a part thereof. “Nor does he want Hamas to be included in the Palestinian government, and so how can there be reconciliation? Every time we reach a solution, we find that it is not implemented [because of the US-Israel veto], despite resolving all matters related to the reconciliation in the past eight years of talks.”

According to Abu Marzook, “everything” is in the hands of the president at the moment. “He always talks about elections but, I ask, what is preventing him from issuing a decree to hold elections? Does he not want reconciliation to be achieved?”

When Abbas announced that local elections were going to be held, Hamas agreed despite not being consulted. “What happened? They were cancelled.”

Hamas, concluded Abu Marzook, wants complete reconciliation. “Reconciliation must be between two sides, not one. We have paid the price for this reconciliation, including the resignation of the government we believed to be legitimate — Ismail Haniyeh’s government — in 2014. We nominated Rami Hamdallah as president of the national consensus government, but despite this, Hamas’s position was not accepted. We want reconciliation, but we do not have the tools to impose it.”