Hamas: Egyptians must support reconciliation

Hamas has reiterated its calls for Egypt to sponsor the growing tide of Palestinian reconciliation, denying that Egypt’s internal challenges could prove to be a roadblock unification between Gaza and the West Bank. In a press statement on Tuesday, senior Hamas official Dr Yehia Moussa said the movement “insisted” Cairo continue its role of supporting Palestinian reconciliation, adding that Hamas had not “abandoned” Egypt. “It is not very discerning for someone to talk about moving the reconciliation elsewhere, because Egypt has never neglected the Palestinian people,” Moussa said. The fact the country was experiencing turmoil represented “the core of the Palestinian cause,” he added. Moussa also claimed that Egypt was capable of surviving the current internal crisis and should sponsor the Palestinian reconciliation throughout. The senior Hamas official’s comments came in response to remarks by Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, in which al-Ahmad said his organisation will request that reconciliation meetings be held elsewhere should the current conditions persist in Egypt. Moussa also denied the existence of internal divisions within Hamas that prevent the movement from proceeding with wider Palestinian unification. “The Hamas leadership is capable of entering into this climate of reconciliation and achieving it,” he said, therefore denying that the Islamist movement was suffering from a “leadership vacuum.” The Hamas leader suggested his movement was looking to build a united Palestinian leadership, as well as a national programme for the Palestinian people.