Israel rejects Fatah-Hamas agreement as Iran hails it as ‘triumph’
Israel rejects Fatah-Hamas agreement as Iran hails it as ‘triumph’.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of Israel spoke a day after Hamas and Fatah announced a unity-government deal in Cairo. (File photo)
Israel said it would not negotiate with a new Palestinian government that includes the Hamas armed group, warning that an array of measures could be taken against the Palestinian Authority. Iran, meanwhile, welcomed the deal reached by the rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of Israel spoke a day after Hamas and Fatah announced a unity-government deal in Cairo that would end their five-year-long dispute. The agreement also calls for elections.
The Israeli foreign minister said the deal marks the “crossing of a red line,” The Associated Press reported.
Speaking to Israel’s Army Radio on Thursday, Mr. Lieberman warned that the accord could lead to the armed group’s takeover of the Fatah-run West Bank. Hamas currently runs the Gaza Strip.
He said the reconciliation agreement would result in increased terrorism in the West Bank as Palestinian security prisoners are freed.
“We have at our disposal a vast arsenal of measures including the lifting of VIP status for Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad, which will not allow them to move freely,” Mr. Lieberman said referring to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his prime minister, according to Agence-France Presse.
“We could also freeze the transfer of taxes collected by Israel for the Palestinian Authority,” said Mr. Lieberman, who leads the Israel Beitena party in the coalition of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has held peace talks with the Fatah-led government. It shuns Hamas and considers it a terrorist group because of its commitment to the destruction of the Jewish state.
The Egyptian-brokered plan calls for the formation of a single caretaker Palestinian government in the coming days.
Iran, meanwhile, hailed the reconciliation deal reached by the rival Palestinian groups to set up a transitional unity government and hold elections.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi whose nation staunchly backs Islamist movement Hamas said he “welcomed” the agreement, according to AFP.
“This is the first triumph of the great Egyptian people concerning Palestine after the developments in Egypt, and the effort of Egyptian government is appreciated,” Mr. Salehi was quoted as saying by the state television website.
“This deal will lead to the speeding up of developments in the Palestinian arena and the gaining of great victories in facing the (Israeli) occupiers,” Mr. Salehi said.
Iran supports Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and has been at odds with the Fatah government of President Abbas in the West Bank, saying that it lacks legitimacy to represent all Palestinians.
Mr. Abbas told AFP in an interview this month that Iran had ordered Hamas not to reconcile with its long-time secular foe, prompting an angry response from the Islamist movement, which said Mr. Abbas was responsible for blocking a unity deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu demanded that Mr. Abbas, who heads Fatah, “choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas.”
Hamas was at loggerheads with Fatah since Hamas won the parliamentary elections in January 2006. Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, ending months of bloody conflict with Fatah security forces. Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza, has made several attempts to bring the two sides together.
The Palestinian factions were on the verge of agreeing a deal in 2009 that would have led to a transitional government ahead of elections when Hamas pulled out, saying the accord had been revised without its approval.
(Abeer Tayel of Al Arabiya can be reached at: abeer.tayel@mbc.net)
WarSclerotic 
Leave a comment