Ismail Haniyeh visited the Palestinian Authority and demanded "to launch widespread popular resistance to raise prices from the occupation"
Ismail Haniyeh and Abu Mazen // Photo: AFP
"We want the talks to be done," Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday regarding the speech by Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen in the Arab League, in which he recalled that he informed Israel and the United States of the cancellation of relations, including those in security.
Haniyeh said the Century Plan was designed to save Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump from the prospect of a loss in the upcoming elections, "at the expense of the Palestinian people."
Haniyeh reiterated in this context a total rejection of the Centennial Plan, saying that it was "American aggression and Zionist arrogance" and that it represented the Israeli position and abolished Palestinian rights.
A Hamas official has demanded that the Palestinian Authority cancel the security coordination agreements and "launch a widespread popular resistance that will take a toll on the occupation", mainly in Judea and Samaria. He also demanded that the sanctions imposed on Gaza be removed. Remember, today the fishing area has been reduced to ten nautical miles from 15 in the south coast area, and the northern fishing area has also been reduced.
Haniyeh stressed that Hamas was in favor of Abu Mazen's position, but stated that they wanted to see action. He called on the Authority to take advantage of the Centennial Plan to close the door to a settlement. Haniyeh also asked the authority to promote new appeals to the Hague International Court on the annexation of land in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The visit that was not
Meanwhile, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported this morning that Palestinian chairman Mahmoud Abbas has rejected the Fatah delegation's visit to the Gaza Strip, which was supposed to discuss the ways of fighting the "century deal" and the Palestinian reconciliation.
Although Fatah did not announce the true reason for the rejection, Fatah sources told a newspaper close to Hezbollah and Hamas that the reason was a dispute about the manner of the visit, which would not include a public and popular dimension (ie will be conducted without support demonstrations and tours).
On the other hand, Abu Mazen wants to show that he supports him in Gaza, but the Hamas leadership did not announce their position on receiving the delegation or meeting with it. Against this backdrop, there is concern in the PA that the meetings will be conducted at low levels. This is to put pressure on Abu Mazen to come himself.
Protesters in Gaza burn pictures of Netanyahu and Trump // Photo: Reuters
During the week, a Fatah official in Gaza, Ahmed Hales, presented his organization's vision for his visit and his schedule. However, Hamas did not respond directly to the plan and his statements in the media were limited. This led to the rejection of the visit.
However, ، noted that Fatah head Azam al-Ahmad said in a statement to the press that they did not reject the visit. He was appointed last Monday and included twelve senior Palestinian factions and the PLO executive committee.
However, he said they received information from Gaza that Hamas was not yet ready to visit, although the timetable already included a meeting between the two organizations and a joint conference between the senior officials who signed the declaration and summit in Cairo (Arab League rejection of the century plan).
However, the other factions refused to postpone the visit later because that was unjustified. Especially when in Gaza, the delegation is welcomed and given the sensitive circumstances surrounding the Palestinian issue. Hence, the PA called last night to expedite the visit to hold a discussion meeting against the Centennial Plan. On the other hand, Hamas saw the rejection of the visit as a negative message despite being welcomed. And Islamic Jihad said the rejection was unjustified.