Palestinian foreign minister: no government with Hamas participation
Published: Wednesday, Feb 28th 2024, 15:30
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Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki has ruled out the possibility of Hamas, the dominant Palestinian organization in the Gaza Strip, joining the government at the moment.
It was not the right time for a national coalition government, Malki said on Wednesday in Geneva on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council.
According to Malki, Hamas supports the formation of a government of technocrats. Their immediate task would be to save Palestinian lives and end the war. Once this had happened, elections could be considered. There is no time for this.
With the resignation of the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, Mohammed Shtaje, on Monday, the Palestinians had shown that they were ready for a new beginning, said Malki. He himself was prepared to continue serving his people, but was not available to succeed Shtaje.
The new government should take full responsibility for both the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, said Malki. However, it was clear that any government would fail if the Israeli occupation continued.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, while the extremist Palestinian organization Hamas holds sway in the Gaza Strip. Although Israel evacuated its settlements in the Gaza Strip in 2005, it controls the border crossings together with Egypt in order to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the Palestinian territory.
There is no way around the two-state solution because Israel would never grant the Palestinians equal rights in a joint state, said Malki. The goal remains to live side by side in peaceful neighborhood with Israel.
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