GAZA CITY, 8 April 2006 — Hamas denied reports yesterday that it was ready for a two-state solution with Israel or would present such a proposal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“That is not correct. Where did you hear that?” Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said in the town of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. He appeared shocked when asked by reporters if it was true.
Any readiness to talk about a two-state solution would imply recognition of Israel, which the group is formally sworn to destroy.
Hamas has come under mounting Western pressure to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept past peace deals or risk losing vital financial assistance. The European Commission yesterday said it had halted aid payments to the new government.
In an interview with Britain’s Times newspaper published yesterday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, said the group was prepared to discuss what was meant by a two-state solution.
Zahar said he wanted clarification on the issue from the Quartet of Middle East mediators — the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia.
Earlier this week, Zahar denied referring to a two-state solution to the conflict in a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Deputy Prime Minister Naser Al-Shaer, a moderate within Hamas, said the group was not about to change its stance.
“Hamas won’t change its thinking and won’t introduce such a massive shift in its thinking and risk losing its constituency,” Shaer told Reuters. Haniyeh was to meet Abbas in Gaza later yesterday. Haniyeh said he would talk to Abbas about a row over government powers.
“This (two-state solution) issue is not on the agenda for the prime minister’s meeting with President Abbas,” Palestinian Cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad added.
Hamas, which defeated Abbas’ long-dominant Fatah movement in January elections, has vowed to keep fighting the Jewish state since taking over the Palestinian government last week. It says talks with Israel would be a waste of time. Israel calls Hamas a terrorist organization and has vowed not to negotiate with the group. Fatah wants a two-state solution to end the conflict.
Haniyeh said he wanted to talk to Abbas about the president’s decisions to assume control of the Gaza Strip’s border crossings and make a high-level security appointment.
“We are keen for dialogue and coordination with President Abu Mazen and that we respect his position but respect for this government and for its authority is also required,” Haniyeh said in a speech at a mosque in Khan Younis.
Haniyeh condemned the EU decision to freeze aid and said the move would only make Hamas more popular.
“They are punishing the Palestinian people for practicing their (democratic) choice,” Haniyeh said. “This is a continuation of hasty decisions ... that will increase the suffering of the Palestinian people and provide a cover for the Israeli occupation.”
Besides the EU, the United States has ordered its diplomats and contractors to cut off contacts with Palestinian ministries and yesterday decided to suspend all direct aid.
Meanwhile, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a car in a training camp yesterday, killing six Palestinians, including a five-year-old girl, hospital officials said.
Fourteen people were wounded in the airstrike on the southern Gaza town of Rafah, including one who was in a coma and hooked up to a respirator, Palestinian security officials said.
The training camp was run by the Popular Resistance Committees. The group has ties to Hamas. Among those killed was Iyad Abul Aynayn, 29, a chief bomb maker for the group, the militants said. Hospital officials said they had also received they badly burned body of a child. The child was later identified as Abul Aynayn’s 5-year-old daughter.
The Israeli military said the aircraft fired the missiles as the car was leaving the training camp.
— With input from agencies
