Deputy Head of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Ahmad Bahar, said the abduction of eight Hamas ministers and 24 Hamas PLC members is a kidnapping of national personalities, and as such is contrary to international customs and laws.
In a press conference in Gaza, Bahar said "Israel is responsible for the consequences of these exercises," pointing out that "the aggressive plan on the Palestinian people was prepared after the Palestinian elections and before Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was kidnapped."
Bahar confirmed that the PLC and the Palestinian government are capable of passing the ordeal, and have found ways to continue coordination with their citizens in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip despite the siege and occupation.
He called on the Palestinian people inside the occupied Palestinian territory and abroad for "solidarity with the Palestinian government and the PLC to defeat the Israeli plans to frustrate the Palestinian democratic choice."
He also called on the Arab and Islamic countries and the international community "for solidarity with the Palestinian people and for bearing their responsibilities towards the Palestinian people under Israeli incursion."
Regarding the sortie of Israeli warplanes over the Syrian coast, Bahar said "the threat to Syria is a threat to the Arab and Islamic world."
Bahar reported that the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, has taken a position supporting the Palestinian people, but he also confirmed "that the Arab position must move away from ‘frightened silence’ and support the aggrieved Palestinian people".
In the same regard, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian presidency, Tayeb Abdul Rahim, rejected, in a media statement, all the excuses that the Israeli government makes about the abduction of the Palestinian officials, saying "Israel knows that these people have no relation with any of the military operations including the kidnapping and the assassination".
Tayeb stated that the "Israeli aggression against the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the kidnapping of the Hamas ministers and PLC members are an attempt to destroy the Palestinian political system that witnessed a development recently through the dialogue supervised by Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismael Haniyeh.
The system entered a new stage of political and diplomatic work, and a new stage of negotiations for the achievement of fair aims that were included in the Prisoners’ Document Accord." He said, "the Israeli occupation does not want a partner."
