The new supreme leader of the Islamic extremist Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, gave his first public speech last night since he assumed the post in May.
In Gaza City, he called for unity with the rival Palestinian Authority dominated by the secular Fatah of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and criticized Israel and the administration of US President Donald Trump.
However, in his speech, Haniyeh set a whole series of conditions that Abbas will most likely refuse, which could pave the way for a Hamas alliance with Abbas's rival and citizen of Montenegro, Muhammad Dahlan, who lives in exile and aspires to return to Palestinian politics. Haniyeh spoke at a hotel to a group of his supporters as Hamas continues to face an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip by force a decade ago, defeating forces loyal to Fatah. Since then, Fatah has dominated only the other Palestinian territory, the West Bank. All attempts to reconcile the two largest Palestinian factions, mainly through Egypt, did not bear fruit.
Haniyeh reiterated his call for a unity government with Fatah in preparation for general elections. He also said the Palestinian Authority must end its security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank regardless of the outcome and called for joining forces against the Israeli occupation. Abbas's forces maintain contact with Israel in a joint effort to stop the extremists, the Associated Press reminds.
Abbas, who has the support of the West, wants Palestinian elections to be held first and defends his security cooperation with Israel. That country and the US consider Hamas a terrorist organization. In its charter, it calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.
Haniyeh also said that the US administration is working to suppress Islamic and Arab forces and strengthen Israel.
Hamas and Israel have fought three wars since 2007, and the last war in 2014 lasted 50 days. Since then, living conditions in the Gaza Strip have steadily worsened, and Abbas has stepped up pressure on Hamas in recent months in an attempt to get it to relinquish control over the Strip. He has slashed the wages of thousands of workers in Gaza, forced some 6.000 people into early retirement and asked Israel to cut the supply of electricity to the Strip, so that it now has only about four hours a day.
Recently, Hamas asked for help from Egypt, with which it normally has cold relations. He is also in contact with Dahlan, who used to be an adviser to Abbas, but had a falling out with him. Dahlan, who lives in the United Arab Emirates and also has the citizenship of Montenegro, facilitated the agreement on the delivery of Egyptian fuel for the only electrical power plant in Gaza. Haniyeh confirmed that in addition to the talks with Egypt, meetings were held with Dahlan's advisors that led to an understanding and will have a positive impact on the people of Gaza.
"The Egyptians have shown their willingness to resolve the crisis in Gaza and have given instructions for a series of procedures to do so," Haniyeh said.
Analysts believe Dahlan plans to return to Gaza to challenge Abbas or position himself to replace the XNUMX-year-old leader.
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