Hamas: PA move to apply for membership in UN organizations “too late”

Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas deems the initiative of Palestinian leadership to apply for membership in international organizations as a belated decision.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called for the need to draw a strategic national plan and to irretrievably stop the negotiations.

Applications for joining international organizations and treaties were signed following a meeting for the PA leadership held in the residence of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah Tuesday evening.

Abbas said in a statement that such an initiative came after Israel’s reluctance to release a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners.

For his part, US Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled plans to travel on Wednesday to Ramallah, according to Reuters News Agency. The announcement came shortly after Abbas initiated a move to apply for membership in 15 UN-affiliated organizations.