Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said Friday that the Palestinian Authority would hold general elections if no agreement was reached with Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip.
His statement came ahead of his tour to a number of Arab states to discuss means to consolidate bilateral ties and to study the government’s plan to “detach from the unrealistic engagements with institutions affiliated with the Israeli occupation.”
Ibrahim Melhem, a spokesman for the Palestinian government, said that Shtayyeh’s first stop, accompanied by the health, economy, agriculture transport, finance, and energy ministers, would be to Amman.
Shtayyeh and Jordan's Prime Minister Omar Razzaz will meet on Sunday to discuss cooperation in all fields. Further, bilateral meetings among relevant ministers will be held during the two-day visit to discuss prospects of “detachment from the occupation.”
On the eve of his travel to Amman, the PM participated in inaugurating the 2nd general conference for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Ramallah, where he spoke about the importance of holding general elections in case no agreement was reached with Hamas.
Shtayyeh noted that everyone proven to be involved in selling Arab land to Israeli settlement organizations will be prosecuted, slamming the US administration for endorsing the occupational Israeli policy in Eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The PM said “days ago the ambassador of a great country was boasting about destroying a house at Silwan to dig a tunnel that facilitates the movement of settlers," adding “this is unprecedented in the history of diplomacy.”
Shtayyeh was hinting at US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
