"Regrettably, the U.S. administration is always hasty in making its decision and reaffirms its bias toward Israel and against the Palestinian people," said Ismail Haniyeh to reporters at the Palestinian parliament in Gaza City.
Ismail Haniyeh, the incoming Palestinian Prime Minister and one of the main leaders of the Hamas party, issued a statement Tuesday challenging the United States leadership’s refusal to open any type of dialogue with the new Palestinian government.
Haniyeh urged the Americans "to be more rational and less erratic and not to issue preconceived statements and judgments on a Palestinian government elected through the ballot boxes." The Hamas party, overwhelmingly elected during democratic Palestinian legislative elections in January, is forming its new government this week with a full Cabinet of Hamas Party members.
On Monday Haniyeh said his government would be ready to talk to international mediators about solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the first indication that the newly-elected Hamas government may be interested in international negotiation.
But U.S. Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle said the American position toward Hamas remains unchanged. "As a matter of policy we don’t deal with Hamas because it’s a terrorist organization," he said.
