An official at Hamas - speaking to Al Bawaba on Monday – said that the Egyptian Foreign Minster’s visit to Israel has little to do with the truce talks between the Palestinian factions and the Israeli government that have been the focus of international attention.
Hamas representative Sa’eed Siam stressed that the movement had no idea about the issues that are to be discussed during Maher’s visit to Israel, adding “Hamas had declared its rejection to any kind of cease-fire with Israel.” He also asserted that the problem with the Israel is not due to setbacks in declaring a truce, but rather due to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian lands [referring to the West Bank and Gaza] and the constant killing of innocent civilians.
On another note, Siam also added that Hamas does not consider the Gaza talks [held last week with the Egyptians which failed to end with a tangible result] a total failure, adding “we progressed well towards reaching a mutual understanding about many other issues [other than the issue of truce] including keeping the communication channels Palestinian Authority opened as well as other issues.” In the same context, he also stated that “Hamas had offered to neutralize the civilians in this dispute…but as we can see Israel has no interest as the killed three civilians in Nablus just yesterday including a child.”
Al Bawaba sources have disclosed that during last week’s Gaza talks, there had been general consensus on several issues including the importance of Israeli withdrawal from the Green Line (land that was Occupied following the 1967 war) as well as the issue of having the Islamic factions participate in the decision making process, improving the political unity across the Palestinian political spectrums by intensification as well as an agreement on the need for a revised vision on how to deal with Israel’s occupation in the future.
The head of the Egyptian Intelligence Directorate, General Omar Suleiman, had recently returned from the US with American guarantees that were thought would help push the Egyptian peace initiative between Palestinians and Israelis. Despite American assurances, the meeting in Gaza last week between the Egyptians and the Palestinian factions failed to produce a final agreement.
