Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday that an end to Israel's more than decade-long blockade of the Gaza Strip was "around the corner", without having to offer concessions.
Speaking during prayers for Eid al-Adha in Gaza, Haniyeh said that any agreement with Israel would come "with a national consensus and an Arab safety net in order to establish the necessary safeguards to implement what is agreed upon".
But Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah warned Hamas of reaching a unilateral truce deal with Israel on Gaza, saying: "We are counting on the Palestinian people in Gaza to foil this scheme."
Hamdallah told journalists after laying a wreath at the grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah that “a waterway between the Gaza Strip and Cyprus or El-Arish [in Egypt] is not the solution."
He pointed out that the US administration has already started implementing the so-called "deal of the century" after recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, relocating the US embassy to the holy city, cutting aid to the Palestinians, attempting to close UNRWA offices and separating Gaza from the West Bank.
"Empowerment of the government doesn't mean that there is a judicial system in the West Bank and another one in Gaza Strip," he said, adding that reconciliation is "in response to the US administration and occupation attempts to cut off the Gaza Strip from the West Bank."
