Hamas wants elections as part of reconciliation deal

Hamas member Sami Khater expressed his surprise yesterday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had warned that he would take “unprecedented punishing measures” against Gaza if Hamas did not accept reconciliation and go for elections, Quds Press reported.

Khater reiterated that his movement replied to a Qatari memorandum regarding the reconciliation, and engaged in the process. “To say that Fatah replied to the Qatari memorandum and we did not, this is not true. We replied to Qatar, which was accepted as a mediator by both sides.”

He continued:

We asked Qatar to take the most accepted points between us and resume reconciliation…We stuck to the reconciliation deal and we are ready for elections if they are part of a reconciliation deal, and full transparency and objectivity for them is guaranteed

The Hamas official refused to respond to Abbas’ threats to Gaza, saying: “We do not reply to this. The Palestinian people, who are not used to being subject to blackmail or threats, will reply to this. We have been under massive attack before and we did not give up.”

Regarding Abbas’ threats, Khater said:

If they were aimed to bring us back to the reconciliation talks, it is alright, but if they were aimed to introduce his credentials to regional and international powers, it does not scare us.

He continued: “We support the unity of Palestinians and we want to commit to the reconciliation.”

During his speech before Arab ambassadors in Washington on Thursday, Abbas said that he would take “unprecedented painful measures against Gaza” in order to push Hamas to dissolve its government and go for elections.