Fatah cancels visit to Gaza after Hamas and Israeli obstacles
Published: Feb 25, 2010 18:34 Updated: Feb 25, 2010 18:34
RAMALLAH: A senior Fatah official on Thursday said that his movement canceled a planned visit of a delegation of seven Fatah leaders to Gaza Strip due to Hamas and Israeli obstacles.
Amin Maqboul, the Secretary General of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, told the Voice of Palestine Radio that the visit to Gaza Strip on Thursday was canceled "after Hamas informed the seven-member delegation that they are not allowed to inter Gaza Strip and after Israel did not the entry permits."
Maqboul said: "We heard positive statements from Hamas officials but the Hamas' internal security officer barred the delegation from interning the Strip." The Fatah official added that the visit aimed at "holding meetings with various Palestinian political factions, including Hamas movement."
He added that the "delegation members have no problems with Hamas." Maqboul said that the delegation included Haitham Al-Hassan, a surgeon, who planned to conduct surgeries in the area.
Fatah on Wednesday set up a representation committee in the Gaza Strip for the first time since Hamas routed Fatah and pro-President Mahmoud Abbas forces and seized the coastal strip in 2007.
Yahya Rabah, a member of the new Gaza-based committee, said in a press statement that the new committee includes members of various Fatah's institutions and will report to the Central Committee, the movement's decision-making body that was elected during Fatah's sixth general convention in August.
He added that the committee would implement Fatah's political trends on the level of media, the movement's internal situation and the inter-Palestinian national affairs." On early February, the member of the Fatah Central Committee Nabil Sha'ath visited Gaza and held meetings with Hamas leaders, including the deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. During his visit, Sha'ath said he talked with Hamas about allowing Fatah to reopen some of its offices in Gaza.
