Gaza- Putting the ball in Israel’s court PA premier Ismail Haneyya has affirmed that Palestinian resistance factions have agreed to calm down and stop firing missiles on Israeli settlements if Israel reciprocates and stops its criminal aggressions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Five major Palestinian resistance factions including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad affirmed that they were fully backing Haneyya’s conditions for the “truce” asserting that a one-sided ceasefire will be meaningless.
Haneyya’s offer came during a press conference he held in his office in Gaza city Friday night where he refused to equalize between the simple Palestinian home-made weapons on the one hand and the IOF sophisticated US-made military arsenal on the other hand.
“It is illogic to portray the matter as if it was between two fully-geared regular armies as it is unfair to display the Palestinians as if they were the aggressors” the prime minister explained.
He underlined “The ball now is in the Israeli court and it is up to Israel to decide on our offer. If it accepts and abides by it then stability and calm could be achieved in the region; but if it decides otherwise then Palestinian people will have no other option but to defend itself with all available means”.
The premier moreover explained that he relayed the offer of the five factions to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to follow up the matter and examine Israeli response to it.
The Israeli occupation government rejected the Palestinian offer saying it will press on with its attacks in the PA-run lands.
Pertaining to the captured IOF serviceman Gilad Shalit’s file Haneyya revealed that there were talks on progress in this regard explaining that head of Hamas’ political office Khaled Mishaal was in Egypt for that matter.
Captors of Shalit decided not to free him unless their “humanitarian” demands of releasing all Palestinian female children and sick captives in Israeli jails were freed simultaneously with the release of Shalit in addition to freeing 1000 Palestinian inmates including MPs and those serving more than 20 years in occupation jails at a later date.
The Israeli occupation government turned down those humanitarian demands and insisted that Shalit must be freed first before any Palestinian prisoner is released. Palestinian factions shrugged off the stubborn Israeli stand.
More than 10000 Palestinian inmates including hundreds of women and children are incarcerated in harsh conditions in Israeli jails.
The PA unity government:
In the same context Haneyya emphasized that talks between him and Abbas over the unity government were continuing based on the national harmony document underscoring that goals of forming the unity government were to break the economic siege on the Palestinian people enhance Palestinian unity and to go ahead with change and reforms in the Palestinian community.
In this regard the premier urged Arab countries to implement the decision taken by Arab foreign ministers in Cairo two weeks ago where they decided to break the siege.
The decision of the Arab foreign ministers remained ineffective as no tangible serious measures were taken by Arab countries to carry out the decision.
Meanwhile Haneyya announced that he will resign as a PA premier after a final agreement on the unity government is reached explaining that his resignation will follow the constitutional procedures.
Haneyya was apparently retorting to hastily invitation made by Fatah lawmakers in the PLC for him to immediately relinquish the premiership post adding that “resignation is part of the constitutional procedures that we will meticulously follow once all details on the unity government are finalized”.
