Grand Palestinian Mufti, , Mohammad Hussein, declared on Monday that infighting is prohibited and called on those fighting in Gaza to refrain from doing so.
“Spilling blood is forbidden and those who kill should refrain from doing so”, Mufti Hussein told a press conference in the West Bank City of Ramallah.
Such a call came amidst the rising death toll due factional infighting in Gaza, as the number hit 32, while more than one hundred others including passers-by are wounded.
Supporters of both Fateh and Hamas have been involved in severe infighting over the past five days. Both factions had resumed talks regarding a national unity government last week during a meeting in Damascus between Palestinian President and Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Mash’al, Hamas’s political bureau chief.
In Gaza, Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, voiced on Monday his determination to use all possible means to end ongoing clashes in light of an invitation by the King of Saudi Arabia to host a Palestinian dialogue in the city of Makkah.
"We appeal to all our people, you have to preserve national unity. The language of dialogue and reason must prevail," Haniyeh said at the start of an emergency cabinet meeting in Gaza.
Cairo has been actively engaged in filling in the gap between the rival Palestinian factions over the past several months; an Egyptian delegation present in Gaza today offered a five-item deal to end current violence.
Fatah accepted the deal, and Hamas said it was considering it. The Egyptian offer included immediate end of violence, setting up a probe panel, uncovering initiators of violence and swift return by all parties to dialogue.
Amongst the major points of difference between Hamas and Fatah are the acceptance by Hamas, now in power, of the platform of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) with respect to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and renouncing important portfolios such as the interior and financial ministries. Hamas rejects peace deals PLO had signed with Israel and insists to keep the said ministries.
