A senior member of the Palestinian Fatah movement yesterday urged the
Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which has presented a new cabinet to
parliament for approval, to accept previous Palestinian-Israeli deals.
Ahmed Abdel Rahman told the local "Voice of Palestine" radio that Hamas and
the coming government led by the group must be committed to the previous deals
with Israel including the 1993 interim peace agreements.
The senior Fatah member's statement came one day after Hamas prime
minister-designate Ismail Haneya presented a new cabinet and government agenda
to the Palestinian Legislative Council for approval.
The parliament continued debate on Tuesday and is expected to hold a vote of
confidence over the Hamas-led government on Tuesday or Wednesday.
It is almost certain that the legislature will give a green light to the
Hamas cabinet since the group holds an outright majority in the 132-member
parliament.
In addition, Abdel Rahman urged Haneya to clarify Hamas' governing platform,
criticizing Haneya's Monday speech before the parliament as being ambiguous.
Haneya said that he was ready to hold talks with the Quartet of the United
States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations toward reaching a
"just peace" in the Middle East region.
But the Hamas leader defended armed resistance against Israel.
The long dominant Fatah movement suffered a crushing defeat by Hamas, which
calls for Israel's destruction, in the January elections.
Fatah, along with other Palestinian factions, decided not to join the new
government, forcing Hamas to form the cabinet single-handedly.
