Hamas ‘will not sign’ Palestinian unity deal

Hamas and other Palestinian groups have denounced the current text of an Egyptian-proposed reconciliation deal, saying they “will not sign it”.

The text strips the Palestinians of their right to resist the Israeli occupation, Hamas said on Thursday after its rival faction, Fatah, signed and submitted the Palestinian unity agreement.

Hamas’ Damascus-based spokesman, Khaled Abdel Majid, who had also criticized the agreement earlier, said it “lacks a political vision concerning the conflict [with Israel] and the aggression against our people.”

“The Palestinian factions will not sign the accord … unless the text includes the principles and the rights of Palestinians, especially that of resisting the Zionist occupation,” Majid said.

Hamas official Mahmud Zahar said the Palestinian Authority had “poisoned the atmosphere.”

Fatah on Thursday submitted a signed copy of a proposed unity accord to Egyptian mediators, its negotiator Azzam al-Ahmed told AFP. “Now we are waiting for Hamas’s response. Today was the deadline for signing the deal.”

Ahmed said, “We hope that Hamas stops conscripting itself to the interests of the Israeli rightwing and the American administration. Israel and the American administration do not want an end to the division,” he told reporters.

Egypt has set October 20, as the date for a final meeting between all Palestinian factions.