Hamas slams negotiations with Israeli regime

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has slammed the talks between the Israeli regime and the Palestinian Authority.

Addressing a gathering in Gaza City on Saturday, Haniyeh said the Palestinian resistance movement would not be bound by any deal with Israel.

“The so-called American framework is not binding for us,” he added, referring to the US framework for the negotiations.

“This framework to resolve the Palestinian issue is unfair and imposes the Zionist violation of the Palestinian land,” Haniyeh said, noting that the deal that US Secretary of State John Kerry has been formulating is aimed at completing the occupation of Palestine.

Haniyeh stated that resistance was a strategic choice, saying the Palestinians have negotiated with Israel in vain for years.

The US secretary of state is planning to unveil a framework document as part of the US-brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Since the resumption of the direct talks, Palestinians have objected to a number of issues including the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Israel’s settlement expansion policy in the West Bank has created a major obstacle to the progress of the talks.

The settlements are illegal under the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied land.

The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks broke down in 2010 after the Tel Aviv regime refused to halt its settlement construction.