Palestinian Foreign Minister, Mahmouad Zahhar, said on Thursday that
internal talks on the formation of a National Unity Government have
reached an impasse, and that Hamas movement will not allow “American
and Israeli agendas” to control the government.
In a press conference in Gaza, Zahhar from the Hamas movement, said that there are huge difficulties obstructing the formation of the government, and that there are “some figures who insists on “bowing to American and Israeli pressures and orders”.
Zahhar, who concluded a tour in several Arab and Islamic countries, said that the coming days of weeks will see results that could lead to lifting the siege imposed on the Palestinians, but did not elaborate on his comment.
He also said that he received envoys from Arab and European countries who revealed that their countries are willing to hold talks with the Hamas-led government, but he did not name the countries and said that the information will be revealed “when everything is clear, and actual results are achieved”.
Zahhar accused some of Abbas's advisors, without naming them, of acting in order to foil the formation of the National Unity Government, adding that those “figures are also adding tension to the situation”.
Commenting on Rice's visit to the region, Zahhar said that Hamas does not believe that this visit will achieve positive results, and that “such visits might be carried out with the intension to justify the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people”.
Zahhar added that the visit of Egypt's Intelligence Chief, Omar Suleiman, aimed at talks regarding a prisoner swap deal that would see the release of the captured Israeli corporal, Gilad Shalit, in exchange of freeing Palestinian detainees.
Moreover, the Hamas leader denied Israeli reports that the Rafah Border Crossing was closed two days ago after he managed to smuggle 20 Million US Dollars, and said that Israel wants to justify its closure to the Border Crossing that was closed for several months, and was opened for short periods recently.
Zahhar stated that the Crossing was opened on Tuesday for only for 90 minutes following 15 days of total closure. He added that since June 14, the crossing was only opened for twelve days.
