The Hamas group has no ties and is not recognized by the official Palestinian authorities. This was announced on Sunday, February 18, by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“I think it is absolutely true that Hamas is outside the Palestinian consensus and [не имеет поддержки] Palestinian Authority,” he was quoted as saying. CNN Arabic.
He noted that Hamas does not recognize Israel, does not negotiate and does not renounce its support for violence.
Shoukry also has questions about how Hamas came to power in the Gaza Strip in 2007. And who was the source of funding?
“This is a minor issue, but it should be resolved,” the minister noted.
Earlier in the day, Palestinian Prime Minister Shtayyeh recalled the presence of the PLO in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian government has always worked in Gaza, even when the radical Hamas movement took power, he said.
At the same time, the Israeli cabinet unanimously approved a declarative decision on the impossibility of unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state and countering international pressure on the issue of settlement. One of the points is that the country “categorically rejects international demands” for a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. It can only be achieved through negotiations, the document says.
On February 16, Social Affairs Minister Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the PLO executive committee, noted that the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip would require billions of dollars, while guarantees were needed to prevent a recurrence of hostilities. Responsibility lies with the United States, and primarily with Israel itself, which razed the Gaza Strip to the ground, he emphasized.
Also on this day, Israeli aircraft struck the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. In total, the death toll over the past 24 hours as a result of Israeli army shelling of the Gaza Strip is 66 people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on February 16 that the Jewish state will continue to fight until complete victory on all fronts in the conflict with Hamas.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, when Hamas subjected Israel to massive rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, and also invaded border areas in the south of the country and took hostages. That same day, Israel began retaliating against targets in the Gaza Strip.
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