GAZA: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said his government was ready to open direct talks with the current US administration.
Haniyeh told reporters during a meeting with a delegation of American doctors who visited Gaza on Wednesday that the US administration is able to bring about stability in the region in terms of the Israeli-Palestinians conflict if it moved in “a balanced manner.” “Our government was elected by the Palestinian people, and “we are not embarrassed to launch an open talks with the current US administration,” Haniyeh said, stressing that “there is an atmosphere of optimism in the new US administration.”
The United States lists Hamas as a terrorist organization but in an apparent policy shift, President Barack Obama during his speech in Cairo in last June invited Hamas to “play a role” in the future of the Palestinian people.
“Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have to recognize they have responsibilities. To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, recognize Israel’s right to exist,” Obama said in his speech.
Meanwhile, a senior Fatah official on Thursday said the Egypt-mediated reconciliation talks between Palestinian factions are frozen.
Azzam Al-Ahmed, a member of Fatah Central Committee and member of its team to Cairo reconciliation talks, told Voice of Palestine Radio that “there are no current contacts and Egypt did not contact us or inform us of any new development.”
According to Al-Ahmad, “the Egyptian proposal became an old story that we left behind us after a Palestinian side accepted it and the other refused.”
-- With input by Mohammed Mar’i
