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Hamas leader warns of increasing Arabs' normalization with Israel

Xinhua, June 17, 2016 Adjust font size:

Ismail Haneya, the deputy chief of Islamic Hamas movement, warned on Friday of increasing and speeding up the Arabs' normalization with Israel.

Haneya told prayers at one of Gaza mosques that all Arab and regional peace initiatives will fail due to "the impossible Israeli terms and having the Likud Party the ruling party of Israel."

"Even Oslo peace accords (the transitional peace treaties reached between Israel and the PLO) had failed after 23 years. All these treaties and initiatives had failed to help gaining the Palestinian rights," said Haneya.

Hamas movement, which opposes the peace process and refuses to recognize Israel, has been ruling the Gaza Strip since it had taken the coastal enclave by force in 2007 and routed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas security forces.

"The Arabs have always been linking the normalization with the Israeli occupation with the success of the signed peace agreements, but unfortunately normalization became a priority without having successful deals," said Haneya.

He insisted that the choice of achieving peaceful settlement with Israel "has failed," adding that "it is necessary to unify the Palestinian, Arab and Islamic positions and set up a strategy to confront the policy of concessions."

Last direct peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians stopped in April 2014 after it went on for nine months and were sponsored by the United States due to deep differences on settlement, borders and security issues.

Meanwhile, Hanan Ashrawi, the official in Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said in a press statement that resolving the Palestinian cause can't be made by bilateral negotiations, but through a multi-international track.

"This track has to be based on international laws and the principle of the two-state solution," said Ashrawi, who called for succeeding the French peace initiative and the idea of holding international conference for peace. Endit