Last week Hamas and Fatah reached a landmark agreement that was brokered in Cairo whereby the Palestinian Authority would take control of the Gaza Strip:
CNN – Last week, the two long-time rivals reached a reconciliation agreement in a deal brokered by Egypt in Cairo. The accord handed control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, but made no mention of Hamas’ weapons or military wing. It remains unclear how this issue will be resolved.
In response to this agreement, the US says that Hamas must disarm and recognize the state of Israel:
Hamas should disarm and recognize Israel if it is to join a Palestinian unity government with rival group Fatah, the United States’ Mideast envoy said Thursday. It’s the first comment from the US following the landmark agreement between the two factions last week.
In a statement released Thursday, US Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt said Fatah, which controls the US-friendly Palestinian Authority, must “assume full, genuine and unhindered civil and security responsibilities” in Gaza, which Hamas controls.
“Any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognize the State of Israel, accept previous agreements and obligations between the parties — including to disarm terrorists — and commit to peaceful negotiations,” the statement reads.
Of course we all know it’s a pipe dream that either Fatah or Hamas would become nonviolent while also recognizing the State of Israel.
And…
In a statement, Hamas said it “rejected” Greenblatt’s comments.
“The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) expresses its rejection of American bias in favor of Israeli positions, expressed by Jason Greenblatt, and represents a blatant interference in internal Palestinian affairs, aimed at putting sticks in the wheels of reconciliation,” read the statement.
“Hamas asserts that it is moving ahead with the implementation of all reconciliation steps and will not pay attention to any attempt to sabotage or disrupt this path.”
I love it! They call it ‘sabotage’ to suggest they become nonviolent and recognize Israel. SABOTAGE!
This is how backwards the thinking is in these palestinian areas where deep and seething hatred for the Jews is ingrained in them from the time they are nothing but babes.