Hamas urges Abbas to lift Gaza sanctions to facilitate elections

The leaders of several Palestinian factions are expected to launch a "national dialogue" in Cairo on February 8 in a bid to reach agreement on the general elections.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
YAHYA SINWAR, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, has proven more than once he is pragmatic and is willing to deal with Israel. (photo credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)
YAHYA SINWAR, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, has proven more than once he is pragmatic and is willing to deal with Israel.
(photo credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)
Hamas’s participation in the upcoming Palestinian general elections is contingent on the outcome of a meeting of Palestinian factions in Egypt next week, Hamas political bureau member Khalil al-Hayya said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters in the Gaza Strip, Hayya said that Hamas has still not decided regarding its participation in the elections.
The leaders of several Palestinian factions are expected to launch a “national dialogue” in Cairo on February 8 in a bid to reach agreement on the general elections.
Hayya was referring to the elections for the Palestinian parliament, Palestinian Legislative Council and the Palestinian National Council, the PLO’s legislative body.
The parliamentary election is scheduled to take place on May 22, while the election for the Palestinian National Council has been set for the end of August. The presidential election is scheduled to take place on July 31.
Hamas is unlikely to participate in the presidential election.
Hayya called on the Palestinian Authority to lift the sanctions it imposed on the Gaza Strip in 2017, including the suspension of salaries of thousands of former civil servants and stipends for families of Palestinians injured or killed during clashes with Israel.
As a result of the sanctions, thousands of civil servants, mostly former PA security personnel, were forced into early retirement or had their salaries cut by half.
The sanctions were imposed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas as part of his efforts to punish Hamas for its refusal to cede control of the Gaza Strip. They were also aimed at punishing Palestinians, particularly Fatah members, who were suspected of being affiliated with deposed Fatah leader Mohammad Dahlan, an archrival of Abbas.
“It’s time to lift the sanctions imposed on the Gaza Strip,” Hayya said. “This is a popular demand. It’s time to end the sanctions. We call on our brothers in the Palestinian Authority and Fatah to end the sanctions.”
The Hamas official said that the talks in Cairo were aimed at reaching agreement between all the Palestinian factions on a joint political base.
“This is a very important issue because it would pave the way for holding the elections,” he said.
Hayya expressed hope that the factions would also be able to reach agreement on Abbas’s recent controversial measures aiming at tightening his grip on the Palestinian judiciary.
Days before he announced the elections, Abbas made a number of legal decisions, including the formation of new regular courts, the establishment of an independent administrative judiciary and the forced retirement of a number of judges.
Abbas’s measures sparked strong protests, especially among lawyers and legal experts, who accused him of working to enhance his control over the court system as a precautionary measure to overturn the results of the elections if they are not to his liking.
Hayya pointed out that Abbas’s decisions regarding the judiciary must be revoked to facilitate the electoral process.
“The dispute over the court system is a national and legal one,” he explained. “The dispute has not been solved yet.”
Hamas, he added, was also seeking assurances that the elections would be free and without intimidation or restrictions.
“Our people want to feel safe when they go to the voting centers,” Hayya said, referring to the ongoing PA security crackdown on Hamas supporters and political opponents in the West Bank. “We want freedom for the voters and candidates.”
He also warned Israel against “tampering” with the elections by banning or arresting candidates.
“Our people can’t go to vote while their hands are tied,” he said. “Israel should not be allowed to determine who will run in our elections.”
THE HAMAS official acknowledged that the dispute between his movement and Abbas’s Fatah faction has yet to be resolved.
“The Palestinian division is very complicated,” he said. “This is a political, geographical and administrative division.”
Hayya said that the political dispute between Hamas and Fatah began 32 years ago, when Fatah accepted the establishment of an independent Palestinian state “only” in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.
Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, and insists on the establishment of an Islamic state between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River.
“To end the division, we need to reach agreement on a reasonable political base,” Hayya said. “This is important so we can decide the nature of our relations with the [Israeli] enemy. We want a partnership [with Fatah] so that we could confront the Zionist enterprise.”
The Hamas official criticized the PA leadership for continuing to depend on the US to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The illusion of solving the Palestinian issue through negotiations with Israel is far-fetched,” Hayya argued. “It does not matter whether it’s [former US president Donald] Trump or [US President Joe] Biden – it’s all nonsense.
“Continuing to rely on the negotiations [with Israel] will take us back to square one, the square of political division,” he said. “What will Biden give the Palestinians? Biden was vice president for eight years; what did he do for the Palestinian issue? Can the new US administration give us a homeland and a state?”


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