RAMALLAH, June 14, 2018 (WAFA) - Member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, Azzam al-Ahmad, called on Thursday for subverting what he referred to as “the facto authority” in the Gaza Strip, in reference to Hamas, if it persists in refusing to implement the understandings reached in Cairo in 2011 and 2017.
He said the Gaza Committee, which was formed by the PLO’s Executive Committee, has stressed this point.
Ahmad told Voice of Palestine radio that the Palestinian leadership is still waiting for Hamas to say whether or not it wants to implement the signed understandings.
“It (Hamas) either assumes full responsibility as a de facto authority or turn over everything in Gaza to the Government of National Conciliation, which it has participated in its formation,” he said.
Ahmad said that the time has come to stop talking about sanctions against the Gaza Strip, describing it as "fabrications." He pointed out that it was made clear to all that there are no such things as sanctions, but rather there are some procedures related to salaries and the first victim of the delay was Fatah movement.
He said that “there is a decision by the president and the government to end the problem of salaries in the Gaza Strip,” stressing that “there is no need to make this issue a cover for other purposes not related to this matter but rather to the political issue and the American-Israeli conspiracy against the Palestinian cause in order to pass the deal of the century.”
Ahmad accused “some political parties” of taking advantage of the issue of salaries in the Gaza Strip for personal reasons and to distort the image of the Palestinian situation and cut it down, saying "we will not be silent anymore and we will confront all seekers of division in the Palestinian arena."
He added: "Some peculiar voices in the Palestinian arena claim that there are sanctions on Gaza, a slogan raised by those who are keen to maintain the division in order to serve the pressures exerted on the Palestinian leadership in light of its steadfastness against the American conspiracy on the Palestinian cause and against the Israeli conditions and some regional countries and even some countries from outside the region acting under the pretext of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip."
Ahmad reiterated that there is no way to end the division except through dialogue that lasted for many years, noting that it was agreed to end the division through the Cairo agreement signed on May 4, 2011 by all the parties and after it was signed by Fatah movement on September 15, 2010.
He explained that a number of understandings were reached in Qatar, Cairo and Gaza on how to implement the reconciliation agreement, the latest of which was signed on October 12 of last year.
He stressed that Fatah is clinging to Cairo as the sole mediator and completely rejects the principle of new mediators.
Ahmad was reacting to the recent protests in Ramallah, the last of which took place on Wednesday night and which was suppressed by the Palestinian security forces, which called for ending sanctions imposed by the Palestinian government against Gaza, mainly the cutting or withholding of salaries of public employees.
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