Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh said he is prepared to meet Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to arrange an expanded meeting of Palestinians leaders to discuss the future of the Palestinian issue in Cairo or Gaza.
He made his remarks during a speech at a rally marking the 31st anniversary of the movement’s founding.
He asserted that the movement was ready to "comply with any requirement to restore Palestinian national unity and end the division."
The Hamas leader also expressed his group's willingness to hold elections, either the presidential or parliamentary.
But he called on the Authority to end its security cooperation with Israel, saying it could not continue especially after a week when Israeli forces repeatedly raided Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank.
Moreover, Haniyeh asserted that Hamas will strengthen its relationship with the Arab and Islamic world.
He also claimed that Hamas had gathered intelligence on a recent Israeli undercover operation in Gaza that had pushed the two sides on the verge of a new war.
"The times when the Israeli force entered and left Gaza are precisely known to al-Qassam Brigades. Moreover, its leaders know how many hours the unit stayed in the Strip.”
He explained that Qassam collected technical and security information after the infiltration, which will “be used to reveal the work mechanisms of the Israeli special forces in West Bank, Arab states and other countries."
Haniyeh's call to meet with Abbas came as the president was considering new measures against the movement that governs Gaza after the failure of Cairo intra-talks on reconciliation.
Abbas says Hamas must hand over everything to the Palestinian government or bear consequences.
The latest round of reconciliation talks in Cairo failed after Hamas insisted on forming a national unity government, lifting the sanctions on Gaza and adopting the 2011 agreement regarding the security forces. The movement insisted that any agreement must reactivate the PLO and hold elections.
Fatah refused to hand over the Strip on conditions, insisting on full empowerment of the current government without being linked to the president's measures against Gaza.
Fatah responded to Haniyeh's call for a meeting with Abbas, saying that any meeting between them should come as a culmination of the reconciliation process.
Fatah spokesman, Atef Abu Seif, announced that Abbas is the president of all Palestinian people and it is not an issue of meeting, adding that up until now, Hamas is not even implementing the reconciliation agreements.
"Reconciliation is achieved by implementing the agreements signed by Hamas, the position is clear and simple, Hamas must abide by the signed agreements."
Abu Seif criticized Hamas’ selectiveness in implementing the deal, saying it cannot pick and choose what it wants to do. All agreements must be implemented.
“The 2017 agreement is the only procedural agreement and overriding any agreement is totally unacceptable,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fatah central committee member, Azzam al-Ahmad, announced that the national factions will meet in the coming days in order to achieve national unity and overcome obstacles that are hindering ending the division. He also accused Hamas of maintaining its negative stances that refuse to resolve the rift.
