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The group conditions its creation to administer the Strip “totally locally”
MADRID, 21 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The interim head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, Jalil al Haya, has been optimistic in negotiations with Fatah on the formation of a common management committee in the Palestinian enclave after the war with Israel , but has conditioned his support on “administering all matters related to daily life” in Gaza.
“We have come a long way to reach an agreement on a committee for the management of the Gaza Strip and we are going towards success,” he declared during an interview broadcast this Wednesday on the Al-Aqsa TV network.
Al Haya has assured that they support the committee’s proposal presented by “(their) brothers” from Egypt, after having studied it “in a responsible and receptive manner.” Despite this, he has conditioned the formation of this committee on “administering Gaza in a completely local manner, so that it handles all matters related to daily life there,” recalling “the difficult circumstances the Strip is going through.”
“In this regard, we have held multiple meetings with the brothers of the Fatah movement and other Palestinian leaders in Cairo, and the meetings have been fruitful, we have taken great steps towards consensus and harmony among all interested parties, the idea of committee has been accepted by everyone and the Egyptian sponsorship has continued to support this initiative,” he detailed.
The Hamas representative has also highlighted that the committee has the “full support” of the countries of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, where they met ten days ago, confirmed ” its adoption under the name ‘Community Support Committee’.
Al Haya has explained that the committee will be made up of Gazan professionals in “health, education, security forces, civil defense” and has defended that “it must have a close relationship with the Government of the West Bank”, thus avoiding “isolation” and, instead, making it “an integral part of the Palestinian national fabric.”
“We are working to activate this committee immediately, from now on, not only when the aggression stops, but through what is currently available to be ready to handle all matters of local life,” he concluded.
These statements come after Hamas spokesman and member of the political bureau, Osama Hamdan, announced in early November that a delegation from the group was discussing with senior Fatah officials the formation of a committee for the “management” of the Strip. of Gaza after the conflict with Israel.
“We have stressed that the management of the affairs of our people, whether in Gaza, the West Bank or the diaspora, is a purely Palestinian matter and is carried out through national consensus,” he explained then.