Fatah MPs boycott parliament
The Palestinian parliament has resumed meeting without Fatah lawmakers who boycotted the session.
Fatah members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) said they would boycott parliament until the Supreme Court resolved a dispute between Hamas and Fatah.
The dispute arose after the new Hamas dominated PLC voted to revoke resolutions passed by the outgoing Fatah dominated PLC in its last session, including those that were to give Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, greater powers.
Al-Tayeb Abd al-Rahim, the director of the president’s office, accused Hamas of attempting a coup against Abbas.
The leader of Fatah bloc in the PLC said Fatah would take the matter to the Supreme Court.
Tuesday’s session was the last before the PLC went on recess for two weeks.
Brigades to stay
Also on Tuesday, Abu Obeida, a Hamas spokesman, said the resistance group’s armed wing would not join the Palestinian security forces.
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Hamas says its armed wing will |
Abu Obeida said the armed wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, would not dismantle nor join official police forces.
“The problem was not the members of the security forces, but in the policies they followed,” Abu Obeida said. “As for merging the military wing of Hamas completely in the security forces, that is, dismantling the military wing, this will not happen.
“We will keep the current wing in all its organisational form under any circumstances.”