GAZA CITY: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah movement called on its Islamist rivals Hamas on Saturday to relinquish power in order to safeguard the “existence” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“Hamas must show compassion for Gaza, its children, women and men,” Fatah spokesman Monther Al-Hayek said in a message sent to AFP from Gaza.
He called on Hamas to “step aside from governing and fully recognize that the battle ahead will lead to the end of Palestinians’ existence” if it remains in power in Gaza.
Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007 from the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, and subsequent attempts at reconciliation have failed.
The territory has been devastated by an Israeli offensive in retaliation for the attack by Hamas and other Palestinian militants on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas has said repeatedly it is willing to leave power in Gaza once the war is over but categorically excludes giving up its weapons.
“We are ready to accept any agreement regarding the administration of Gaza (post-war), and are not interested in participating in it,” Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif Al-Qanou said in a statement Saturday.
“What’s important to us is the national consensus,” he added, recalling that Hamas has endorsed an Egyptian proposal for an independent committee of professionals and technocrats to manage Gaza post-war and oversee reconstruction.
Abbas says the committee must report to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, the sole legitimate entity to govern Gaza according to him, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has rejected this.
Following disagreement over the next steps in a January 19 ceasefire in the Gaza war, Israeli resumed air strikes on Tuesday, followed by ground operations the day after.
On Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to annex parts of Gaza unless Hamas frees the remaining Israeli hostages seized in the October 7 attack.
Of the 251 hostages taken that day, 58 are still being held, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in 1,218 deaths, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
Nearly 50,000 people in Gaza have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
The latest Israeli offensive has caused a new exodus of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza.
“We are exhausted by the cycle of displacement,” Ramadan Houdoud told AFP in a tent camp in Al-Zawayda in the center of the territory, after fleeing from Gaza City.
Displaced woman Umm Khaled lamented the destruction, adding: “There is no water, no food, and no rest.”
“Where can we go? We need a solution. Are there really no more Muslims to help us?” she asked.
Fatah urges Hamas to cede power to safeguard ‘Palestinians’ existence’
https://arab.news/b2qj9
Fatah urges Hamas to cede power to safeguard ‘Palestinians’ existence’
- “Hamas must show compassion for Gaza, its children, women and men,” Fatah spokesman Monther Al-Hayek said
- He called on Hamas to “step aside from governing and fully recognize that the battle ahead will lead to the end of Palestinians’ existence” if it remains in power in Gaza
UN chief appoints Finland’s Haavisto as personal envoy for Sudan
- Former Finnish FM has extensive experience in mediation in the Horn of Africa and Middle East
- Haavisto was Finland’s minister of foreign affairs from 2019-23
NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Pekka Haavisto, the former Finnish foreign minister, as his personal envoy for Sudan, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday.
Haavisto succeeds Ramtane Lamamra of Algeria and brings more than 40 years of experience in politics and international affairs to the role, having previously held ministerial positions in Finland’s government as well as senior positions with the EU and UN. He is currently a member of the Finnish parliament.
Haavisto was Finland’s minister of foreign affairs from 2019-23. From 2016-19, he was president of the European Institute of Peace. He has also held the ministerial portfolios of development cooperation, state ownership, and the environment. Haavisto was elected to the Finnish parliament in 1987.
The new personal envoy has broad experience in mediation and negotiation processes in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, and has worked extensively with the UN, said Dujarric.
From 2009-17, he was special representative to the Finnish foreign minister for mediation and crisis management in Africa. Between 2005 and 2007, Haavisto was the EU special representative for Sudan, where he took part in the Darfur peace negotiations. During that period, he also acted as a UN senior adviser to the Darfur peace process.
Haavisto worked for the UN Environment Programme from 1999 to 2005, including assignments in Iraq, the Palestinian territories, Liberia, and Sudan.
Asked why Lamamra had stepped down, Dujarric said that it was a “joint decision” between the Algerian envoy and the secretary-general.
