HAMAS CONDEMNS KERRY OVER ERDOGAN SCHEDULED VISIT TO GAZA

Gaza, 13 Jumadil Akhir/22 April 2013 (MINA) – The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas has condemned US Secretary of State John Kerry for calling on the Turkish prime minister to delay a visit to the Gaza Strip.

According to Press TV report monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri on Sunday blamed Kerry and acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas for “collusion in a bid to maintain the (Israeli) blockade on Gaza.”

Earlier in the day, the US secretary of state held separate meetings with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Abbas in Istanbul and told reporters he had asked Erdogan to wait for the “right conditions” before going ahead with a scheduled visit to Gaza in May.

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“We have expressed to the prime minister that it would be better to delay (the visit to Gaza),” Kerry said.

In November 2012, the eight-day Israeli offensive in Gaza killed about 170 Palestinians, including many women and children, and injured over 1,400 others.

A ceasefire agreement, which took effect on November 21, ended the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education. (T/P05/E1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)