Hamas: Unity government must include all Palestinian factions

GAZA CITY  -- A senior Hamas official has called on Palestinians to resolve the suffering of Gazans by forming a national unity government comprising all Palestinian factions.

Ismail al-Ashraq, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that Hamas no longer wanted a technocratic government composed of politically-independent members following that the "failure" of the unity government in ending Palestinian division.

He reiterated Hamas' call for elections.

Al-Ashraq's comments came a week after a government minister announced that the unity government had cut off contact with Hamas following a high-profile visit to Gaza that ended in disarray on Apr. 20.

The visit had been aimed at resolving an employee dispute between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority and Hamas, but the delegation of eight ministers alleged that Hamas had prevented them from leaving them the hotel or meeting with anyone.

Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has since sought to brush off claims that the unity government is in crisis, denying that a stalemate had been reached on the employee dispute.

Hamas' diplomatic efforts

Ismail al-Ashraq, who also heads the PLC's Interior Affairs and Security Committee, spoke of Hamas' recent diplomatic efforts.

He told Ma'an that Hamas' relationship with Egypt was improving.

The relationship has been severely strained since the overthrow of Egypt's first democratically elected president Muhammad Morsi, who had been a close ally of Hamas, in July 2013.

Egypt has since then accused Hamas of supporting anti-regime militants that have killed scores of Egyptian soldiers and police in the northern Sinai, although Hamas has denied the accusations.

Al-Ashqar denied that Hamas had held any direct or indirect negotiations with Israel, adding that his movement could not seek to step away from the "national row" on any issues.

On Sunday, Hamas leader Ahmad Yousef said that there had been indirect "chats" taking place between the Islamist movement and Israel under European mediation.

Although al-Ashqar denied the claims, he acknowledged that there were ongoing "chats" with Europe regarding several Palestinian issues.

Hamas official Ismail al-Ashraq

source: maannews