Fatah rejects US threat to replace Palestinian Authority

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party on Thursday rejected US peace envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt's threat to find an alternative to the Palestinian Authority.

"Greenblatt's threat will not break out our determination to continue to reject the new upcoming US peace plan in the Middle East, known as the 'Deal of the Century,'" Fatah said in an e-mailed press statement.

These threats will never stop the Palestinians from confronting all the attempts to isolate the Gaza Strip from the entire occupied Palestinian territories, the statement added.

It also highlighted that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is the only party that has the authority to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people.

Palestinians hold signs against US President Donald Trump's yet to be revealed plan for peace with Israel at a demonstration in Ramallah, West Bank, July 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

In an earlier written statement that was published in the media, Greenblatt demanded that "the Palestinian Authority should be part of the solution for the Palestinians in Gaza and Palestinians as a whole."

"If not, others will fill that void," he added.

Meanwhile, Fatah reiterated its objection to reaching a truce agreement with Israel before the end of the internal Palestinian division between itself and the Islamic Hamas movement, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Truce between Hamas and Israel?

Earlier, local news website Palestine Now reported that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip, said the prospect of an Egyptian-sponsored ceasefire agreement with Israel will be decided in two weeks.

"In two weeks, the prospect of the calm agreement will be clear and by mid-October, the Palestinian citizens of Gaza will notice the positive changes, if the efforts of Cairo prosper," Sinwar said so during a four-hour meeting with writers and political analysts at his office in Gaza City on Wednesday evening.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar takes part during a tent city protest along the Israeli border with Gaza, demanding the right to return to their homeland, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 27, 2018. /VCG Photo

Sinwar also threatened that Hamas could "keep the sirens wail in central Israel for six months" if no ceasefire deal is reached.

On the issue of the Palestinian territory, Sinwar insists on "a Palestinian state from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the Jordan River" as the "ultimate goal" despite the temporary acceptance of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

He also accused Fatah party of "trying to erase the presence of Hamas in the Gaza Strip."

"The Palestinian National Authority must lift the punitive measures on Gaza, form a unity government and a Palestinian National Council that elects a real Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee," Sinwar noted.

(Cover: Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas attends a meeting with the Revolutionary Council of the ruling Fatah party in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 1, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency