Middle East News

Hamas welcomes Abbas plan to visit Gaza in unity bid

Mar 16, 2011, 14:32 GMT

Palestinians wave Hamas flags as they attend the funeral of Hamas militant Adnan Eshtewi in the al Zaitun area, in the east of Gaza City, on 16 March 2011. Eshtewi apparently was killed with another militant when an Israeli warplane attacked a Hamas training camp near Gaza City earlier on 16 March. Israeli aircraft attacked an outpost in south-east Gaza City 16 March morning, killing two people and injuring several others, a Hamas official said. An Israeli military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said she was checking the report. The Islamist Hamas movement welcomed Wednesday a statement by its bitter rival President Mahmoud Abbas that he was willing to travel to the Gaza Strip to push for Palestinian unity. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER war

Gaza City/Ramallah - The Islamist Hamas movement welcomed Wednesday a statement by its bitter rival President Mahmoud Abbas that he was willing to travel to the Gaza Strip to push for Palestinian unity.

The statement from the organization marks the first time in nearly four years that Hamas has expressed willingness to host Abbas in the Gaza Strip. Previous attempts by Abbas to visit the Hamas-controlled enclave have always been rebuffed.

Hamas and Abbas' Fatah party have been at loggerheads since the former unexpectedly defeated the latter in the 2006 legislative elections.

The rivalry spiled over into violence in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, when in a week of bloodletting Hamas routed officers loyal to Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, and seized full control of security installations in the salient.

Abbas responded by dismissing Hamas leader Ismail Haniya from his post as prime minister - a decision Hamas did not accept - and pulling Fatah out of a national unity government with the Islamist movement.

Since then, attempts to reconcile the two foes have come to naught.

But Abbas on Wednesday responded to an invitation from Haniya to visit the Gaza Strip, and told the opening session of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council meeting in Ramallah that he was willing to travel to Gaza 'tomorrow' to promote reconciliation.

He asked Haniya to make arrangements to receive him, but stressed that he was not going to Gaza to hold a dialogue with Hamas, but rather to push for a unity government that would oversee the holding of national elections before September.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior Presidential aide, said Abbas' proposed visit 'aims at meeting with Haniya and all the forces in Gaza to reach an agreement on a government of independent figures.'

The intention, he said, was 'to prepare for legislative, presidential and Palestine National Council elections within six months.'

Abbas had said he will hold presidential and legislative elections before September but later said they would not take place without the Gaza Strip. Hamas had said it will not allow elections in the areas under its control.

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