HAMAS SUPPORTS PA BID FOR STATEHOOD AT UNSC

Gaza City,  25 Safar 1436/18 December 2014 (MINA) – The Palestinian movement Hamas said that it supports that the Palestinian Authority’s bid to get the UN Security Council to vote in favour of a draft resolution to “end the Israeli occupation” as long as it is done through “national consultation and consensus”.

Hamas’s spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri told the Anadolu Agency that his movement “supports any political step” as long as it is in the Palestinians’ interest. “But this must be done in the context of national consultation and consensus,” he said, commenting on the PLO’s decision to submit a draft resolution “ending the occupation” to the Security Council.

Hamas is not opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders, but without recognition of Israel or waiving any inch of Palestine, according to previous statements released by the movement’s political bureau member Mahmoud Al-Zahar, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Thursday.

The Palestinian leadership, members of both the PLO’s Executive Committee and Fatah’s Central Committee, are set to submit a draft resolution on “ending the occupation” to the Security Council following between Arab foreign ministers, US Secretary of State John Kerry and European ministers on Tuesday, a statement issued by the Palestinian leadership explained.

The Palestinian leadership also stated that it has instructed the PLO’s Executive Committee and the Palestinian National Authority’s institutions to “take all necessary steps to consolidate the status of the State of Palestine on the ground.”

Earlier, a source in the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian leadership has decided to submit the draft resolution to the Security Council next Wednesday.

In mid-October, Palestine distributed a draft resolution to the 15 members of the Security Council, in preparation for submitting it formally to the Council. The draft resolution stipulates “ending the occupation” of Palestinian territories by November 2016, and the establishment of a Palestinian state. (T/P3/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)