Gaza – Hamas announced on Sunday that the unity government established with Fatah over the summer has ended.
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The unity government’s six-month term has expired, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said at a press conference in Gaza City, adding that talks would take place regarding a future government, Palestinian News Agency Ma’an reported.
Hamas “isn’t interested in incitement, but rather seeks to maintain national unity,” he said.
Hamas also responded to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who accused Israel and Hamas of secretly negotiating, and claimed that only Hamas is responsible for Gaza.
Zuhri said that Hamas “does not control the Gaza Strip at all. … If the national consensus government doesn’t want to take responsibility for Gaza, this doesn’t mean the government is exempted from this responsibility,” Ma’an reported.
Zuhri also accused Abbas’s forces of arresting its members for political reasons.
In response to the accusation by Abbas that Hamas has been negotiating with Israel, Hamas called on the Palestinian president to stop spreading lies, Israel Radio reported.
Abbas said in a report on Sunday that Hamas is completely responsible for Gaza, and not the joint Fatah-Hamas unity government.
“The Palestinian Authority does not exist in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is responsible for the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Abbas continued, saying that he will not negotiate over land with Israel, and accused Israel of holding secret negotiations with Hamas.
“I won’t give up one inch of [land past the]1967 [borders]; I have evidence that Hamas and Israel are conducting negotiations,” Abbas said.
According to an interview Abbas gave to an Egyptian TV station, Hamas and Israel were directly negotiating in secret and reached “understandings,” Channel 10 reported.
The Palestinian president claimed in the interview that Israel offered Hamas control over 50 percent of the West Bank and that negotiations would be held over 15 years to decide on control for the rest.
Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post
Ah well, all good things must come to an end eh?
This was a shiddich made in hell and it lasted much longer than most people expected.
Won’t be able to sleep tonight.
There is no honor among thieves. Never has been, never will be.
Hamas was never a part of the unity government. At no time did it ever have any Hamas members.
The truth is that they are the same people, same ideology and same goals. Fatah is just a cover up saying they are interested in peace, to try to get land that way and to demonize Israel (by saying it doesn’t make peace with a moderate government).