Hamas blames Abbas for new rift

Hamas accuses Abbas of imposing unacceptable conditions on unity government.

Abbas has been accused of setting new terms for the formation of a national unity government

“The issue of calming down armed resistance was not on the table and should not be raised at this time.

 

“Hamas had announced it is ready to stop rocket attacks if Zionist aggression and assassinations stop.”

 

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior aide to Abbas, denied that new terms had been imposed.

 

Western guarantees

 

Hamas said it had not received guarantees from Abbas that the West would recognise the proposed government and lift sanctions.

   

The US and EU cut off direct aid to the Palestinian Authority in March after Hamas won elections.

   

The hope is that a new government that unites “technocrats” and members of Fatah, which is more moderate than Hamas, might open the way for the sanctions to be lifted and for the government to again receive desperately needed Western aid.

  

“Linking the soldier issue with the proposed government damages Palestinian interests”

Hamas statement

Even if it is formed, there is no certainty that the sanctions, which have increased poverty throughout the West Bank and Gaza, where 3.8 million people live, will be lifted.

  

Hamas and Fatah had on Monday suspended negotiations over the formation of the government after disagreement emerged over the distribution of key ministries.

   

Fatah wants independent “experts” to take them over.

   

Hamas said in its statement that although it has agreed with Fatah to exclude leading politicians from the new cabinet, it should not be comprised totally of independents.

   

“This will not be purely technocratic government,” it said.

   

“The new government must not be linked to other issues, such as a ceasefire or the captured soldier. Hamas is deeply worried about attempts to go beyond the bases agreed on with Fatah,” the statement said.

  

“Linking the soldier issue with the proposed government damages Palestinian interests,” it said.

 

Hamas member killed

 

Earlier on Friday, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Hamas member who was filming the group’s operations in in the northern town of Jabaliya.

 

Sources said the man was from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the ruling Hamas movement. They identified him as  Ayman Juda, 22, from Beit Lahiya.


 

The army said it was checking the report.

 

Suicide bomber

 

On Thursday, Fatima al-Nejar, a 68-year-old grandmother from Jabaliya, blew herself up near Israeli soldiers, lightly wounding three of them.

 

The Israeli army said soldiers spotted the woman approaching them with an explosive device near the refugee camp and threw a stun grenade at her. The woman detonated the device, killing herself, the army said.

 

“I offer myself as a sacrifice to God and to the homeland”

Fatima al-Nejar,
suicide grandmother

Send your views

Al-Nejar’s family said she had nine children and nearly 30 grandchildren.

Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza, spoke to al-Najer’s family who said that they believed she had decided to take action because of the suffering she had seen of the Palestinian people throughout her life.

 

“The family told me that she simply couldn’t take it any more,” Odeh reported.

 

“Six out of seven of her children were imprisoned and injured by the Israeli army. Her house was demolished and her grandson was shot dead by the Israeli army in 2002.”

 

Al-Nejar was the first known Palestinian grandmother to attempt a suicide bombing against Israelis.

 

Fouad, one of her sons, 31, told Reuters: “I am very proud of what she did. Allahu akbar [God is greatest].”

   

On a video released by Hamas, the woman read out a statement saying she wanted to dedicate her death to the Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and to Ismail Haniya, the prime minister. Thousands of Palestinians are being held by Israel.

   

In the video she wore a black explosives belt and had an M-16 assault rifle slung over her neck.

   

“I offer myself as a sacrifice to God and to the homeland,” she said.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies