Ismail Haniyah (centre), Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, speaking to media at Rafah border crossing following his visit to Egypt, yesterday.
Rafah: Hamas called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to respond to the disbanding of its shadow government in the Gaza Strip by ending his sanctions on the impoverished enclave.
Following Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks with Abbas’s Western-backed Fatah faction, Islamist Hamas said it would dissolve its Gaza “administrative committee” to enable the president’s administration to retake control. The announcement promised relief for Gazans who, under a decade of Hamas rule, have endured poverty, three wars with Israel and Cairo’s cold shoulder. Yet implementation may hinge on power-sharing negotiations that stymied previous unity bids.
“We have taken practical steps on the ground. The administrative committee no longer functions in Gaza and we are ready, starting now, to welcome the government of national consensus,” Hamas official Ismail Haniyah told reporters.
