RAMALLAH, October 3, 2017 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that he will not accept to see the Hezbollah example applied in the Palestinian areas.
“I will not accept or copy or reproduce the Hezbollah example in Lebanon,” he told an Egyptian TV station. “Everything must be in the hands of the Palestinian Authority.”
Abbas was referring to the Hamas militias and weapons, which is expected to be a point of contention in the reconciliation talks that are expected to kick off in Cairo in the coming days.
Hezbollah has its own militias in Lebanon and at the same time is part of the Lebanese government.
Abbas believes in one authority, one government and one weapon, which should be only in the hands of the official Palestinian security forces.
The Palestinian president also said that his forces will be in charge of the crossings between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and Israel, its two bordering countries.
“The Palestinian National Authority will be in charge of the crossings,” he said, explaining that the crossings, the ministries and security should be in the hands of the Palestinian Authority if the reconciliation efforts are to succeed.
“If the government is unable to carry out its duties and obstacles are placed in its way, then everything will stop,” he said in a different interview for another Egyptian TV station, explaining however that “we are not going to look for mistakes or be put in the corner of either take it or leave it and everything is then over. Rather, we are going to take every opportunity and do our best because this is unity, national unity, which dear to all of us.”
Abbas said that when he raised the issue of reconciliation with US President Donald Trump during their meeting in New York, he got the impression that the US is not opposed to it.
“I don’t want to say it (US) blesses or approves, but I believe it does not object to what is going on,” he said. “When I was in New York I thanked President Trump for his efforts regarding the reconciliation and his answer was ‘you are welcome.’ From these words we understood that the Americans are not opposed to it.”
M.K.
