Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, stated on Monday that his ruling part in Gaza is ready to welcome Palestinain President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah in Gaza for reconciliation talks.
In a statement, reported by the German News Agency, Barhoum asserted that his party will be willing to reopen dialogue with Abbas in Gaza not only outside the coastal region.
‘ No one is opposing or setting conditions on talks with the President, who is welcome to Gaza for unity talks and reshaping the Palestinian political terrain’, Barhoum was quoted as saying.
Barhoum made clear that a visit by Abbas to Gaza is surely welcomed by Hamas, on basis of tackling all outstanding issues between Fatah and Hamas.
The statement came after Hamas’s exiled leader, Khaled Mash’al, had invited the chairman of Fatah party, Mahmoud Abbas, to Gaza for unconditional talks on comprehensive reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.
President Abbas reiterated from Damascus early this week his demand that ‘Hamas should renounce control over Gaza’ before any dialogue could begin.
The said developments come in the backdrop of a Yemeni-sponsored conciliation pact, both Fatah and Hamas representatives signed in the Yemeni capital of San’a last Sunday.
Hamas took over control of the Mediterranean Strip in June of last year amidst a power struggle with Fatah party, which signed peace accords with Israel more than one decade ago.
The Islamist party has been shunned by western governments, United States and Israel, since it won January2006’s parliamentary elections, due to Hamas’s platform that opposes peace talks with Israel until Israel halts actions against the Palestinian people.
