GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Deputy chief of the Hamas politburo Ismail Haniyeh said on Sunday morning that his movement would continue to seek national unity and political partnership.
Haniyeh made his comments at a news conference at the former home of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmad Yasin, commemorating 11 years since the spiritual leader’s assassination.
Haniyeh urged “all Palestinian people to achieve real reconciliation and put into effect the agreements reached in Doha, Cairo and al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza.”
He explained that the partnership with Fatah should apply to the political decision-making process, to management and to the Palestinian national program.
In his speech, he also highlighted that Hamas was still interested in “openness to our Arab and Islamic surroundings” and urged the Arab world to embrace the question of Palestine, Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Hamas, he reiterated, is not involved in any battles with its Arab brothers and never interferes in the internal affairs of others. “Resistance is practiced on the land of Palestine and we are interested in balanced relations with all countries.”
The division between Palestine’s two largest parties Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections.
The following year clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
Several attempts at national reconciliation in the years that followed ended in failure, including two agreements in 2012, in Cairo and subsequently in Doha, neither of which were implemented.
In April last year, a national unity deal was announced ending seven years of political division, with a national unity government to be set in place within five weeks.
However, the 50-day conflict between Hamas and Israel severely strained relations between the two parties, particularly over Palestinian Authority security co-ordination with Israel in the West Bank.
On Friday, Hamas politburo member Mahmoud al-Zahar said that resistance as manifested in the Gaza Strip would “reach the West Bank in spite of Israel and its allies,” in reference to the Fatah-led PA.
Separately, Hamas also used the anniversary of Sheikh Yasin’s assassination on Sunday to launch its official website.
Sheikh Yasin was assassinated by Israeli forces on Mar. 22, 2004.
He was killed along with nine others by Israeli helicopters as he was being wheeled from a Gaza mosque following the early morning prayer
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