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Islamic Jihad says no to Hamas
20/02/2006 19:30 - (SA)
Gaza - The Islamist group Hamas began talks with militant groups on Monday on forming a new
Palestinian government but was swiftly rebuffed by Islamic
Jihad, which vowed to press on with its fight against Israel.
Two days after becoming the majority bloc in parliament,
election winner Hamas assured armed groups that it would not
crack down on their fighters despite international pressure.
Hamas said its goal was to establish as broad a coalition as
possible as it faced a halt in vital tax funds from Israel and a
threatened boycott by major powers if it refused to renounce
violence and recognise the Jewish state.
Hamas leaders planned to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas later in the day and present their choice of Ismail
Haniyeh as prime minister. Hamas crushed Abbas's Fatah faction
in the January 25 election. Long-term truce
During the daylong talks with militants, Hamas signalled its
readiness for a long-term truce if Israel withdraws from lands
it occupied in the 1967 war.
But the head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service,
Yuval Diskin, said a truce alone would be unacceptable and
called a Hamas-run state a long-term "strategic threat" to the
Jewish state.
In a bid to isolate Hamas, Israel on Sunday halted the
transfer of tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority.
The UN special envoy to the Middle East, Alvaro de Soto,
called the decision unhelpful and premature. Israel, which has
long viewed the United Nations as pro-Palestinian, brushed aside
the criticism, saying it was sticking to the funding cut-off.
With an Israeli helicopter gunship circling overhead, a
Hamas delegation huddled in Gaza with leaders of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which signalled a
willingness to join the new government. Co-operation
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)
also suggested it was amenable to joining the coalition.
While Islamic Jihad declined to join the new government, its
leader Nafez Azzam promised to co-operate with Hamas "in the
project of resistance to protect the interests of our people".
Hamas said it would leave the door open for Islamic Jihad to
join the government in the future and predicted one would be
formed within two weeks.
The Israeli military often targets Islamic Jihad, which in
addition to a campaign of suicide bombings has claimed
responsibility for firing rockets into Israel.
- Reuters
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