Monday, February 10, 2014

Shaath from Gaza: Reconciliation Ripe

GAZA, February 10, 2014 (WAFA) – Member of Fatah Central Committee, Nabil Shaath, who is in Gaza with a Fatah delegation, said Monday in a press conference that the reconciliation is ripe and ready to start implementation.
He said that Fatah official in charge of the reconciliation talks with Hamas, Azzam al-Ahmad, is set to arrive in Gaza in the next few days to seal an agreement on implementation of what the two movements had previously agreed on to reunite the West Bank and Gaza Strip after seven years of division.
He said Fatah officials visiting Gaza held talks with their Hamas counterparts and agreed to speed up reconciliation efforts.

Shaath also said that President Mahmoud Abbas will not agree to recognize Israel as a Jewish state or agree to presence of one Israeli soldier on Palestinian land in any future peace deal with Israel.
He said Abbas would neither cancel the Palestinian right of return for refugees or accept settlements and will not agree to postpone the current negotiations by one day once they reach their April 29 deadline if the position of the US and Israel does not change.
He said the negotiation could be extended for a short while if there was real progress and only minor issues are left to deal with them in order to conclude an agreement.
Shaath warned that Western donors and Israel may put pressure on the Palestinians to force them to accept a deal with Israel, but that the Palestinians will not give in to that if the deal was not good for them, which means a chance the donors may cut financial aid.

No comments: