A Palestinian unity deal will not lead Islamist group Hamas to recognise Israel’s right to exist and will not result in any Gaza militants coming under President Mahmoud Abbas’s control, a senior Hamas official said yesterday.
Veteran Hamas strategist Mahmoud Al-Zahar told Reuters the group, which runs the Gaza Strip, was waiting for Abbas to form a unity government, but said the Palestinian leader was taking his time in an effort to overcome US and Israeli opposition.
Hamas, which is viewed as a terrorist group by many Western capitals, unexpectedly agreed with Abbas last week to lay aside old animosities and create a transitional cabinet paving the way to long-overdue elections across the Palestinian Territories.
The reconciliation accord angered Israel, which promptly suspended floundering peace talks with the Western-backed Abbas, saying it would not negotiate with any administration backed by Hamas.
Unexpectedly, Hamas agreed with Abbas last week to lay aside old animosities
Zahar, who is one of Hamas’s most influential voices, said Abbas only decided to seek unity because the US-driven negotiations were leading nowhere.
“He is trying to overcome a great wave of pressure. We are waiting,” said Zahar, adding that Hamas had already handed across lists of names of possible ministers.
“He is seeking a guarantee that US financial support will continue,” Zahar said, speaking from his well-guarded house.
Looking to reassure Western allies, Abbas said the new government would recognise Israel and honour previous treaties. Zahar dismissed this as a hollow gesture, saying the ministers would be academics with no political authority.
“Abbas is not telling them the truth. He says ‘this is my government’. But it is not his government. It is a government of national unity. He is marketing it in this way to minimise the pressure,” said Zahar.
Hamas leaders have said in the past that the movement could live peacefully alongside Israel if it wins a state on all Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967, although the Islamist group’s 1988 founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel and for recovering all mandate Palestine. But it continues to say it will not recognise Israel officially.
The unity pact follows a trail of previous, failed efforts to overcome the deep schism that has traumatised Palestinian politics.