Hamas deputy chief vows to resist initiatives aimed at settling peace with Israel

A top Islamic Hamas movement leader vowed here Sunday that his movement and other Palestinian factions would resist the initiatives that aim at settling a peace treaty with Israel.

Ismail Haneya, Hamas deputy chief, predicted that all these initiatives "carry the seeds of failure" in a rally in Gaza in support for Jerusalem on the 49th anniversary of the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territories.

"We are able to topple the political illusion of these initiatives that overcome the legitimate rights, the holy sites and the streams of bloods," Haneya said, adding "but they never overcome or bypass our people who reject it."

Haneya was referring to the French initiatives that aim at reviving the stalled peace process in the Middle East and prepare for holding an international peace conference to end the ongoing Israeli Palestinian conflict.

Hamas, which was listed by Israel and the United States as a terrorist group, has been against the peace process and against recognizing the state of Israel.

The Islamic movement has been ruling the Gaza Strip since it had violently took control of the coastal enclave in the summer of 2007, and says Israel pulled out from Gaza due to armed resistance, not due to peace treaties.

Haneya said that the 1993 Oslo accords for transitional peace signed between Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization "had also carried the seeds of failure from the beginning."

"We believe that instead of running after these initiatives, the Palestinians need to made strategic decisions to overcome all the obstacles that face the Palestinian cause," said Haneya. Endit