Hamas' exiled political chief warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to make changes in the Palestinian government without consulting it first -- the first clear sign Hamas plans to play hardball as both sides begin to jockey over the next Palestinian government.
Political leader Khaled Mashaal also again declared that Hamas would not bow to Arab and international pressure to recognize Israel and that the group -- once in power -- not act to prevent militant attacks on the Jewish state.
The tough stance on Wednesday came after a three-day visit by Hamas' leadership for talks with Egyptian officials, the militant Palestinian movement's first diplomatic foray seeking Arab support since their surprise victory in elections last month.
The smaller group Islamic Jihad, meanwhile, declared it would forge ahead with attacks against Israel -- signalling that even if Hamas eventually bows to pressure, other Palestinian radicals won't. Jihad has been responsible for all six suicide bombings since Palestinian factions agreed to a ceasefire a year ago.
Mashaal issued a strong warning to Abbas, known by his nickname Abu Mazen, not to make political changes behind Hamas' back.
"This is a message to Abu Mazen and other brothers in the authority to stop issuing decrees and decisions [before consulting with us] ... as if to throw them in our face,'' Mashaal told journalists in Cairo. "We will not deal with them as legitimate ... no one can deceive us."
The warning was a reaction to reports that Abbas would try to wrest control of security forces from a Hamas-led government. Palestinian papers reported Abbas planned to appoint Interior Minister Nasser Youssef as deputy commander of the Palestinian security forces. An official in Abbas' office denied the reports.
Under Palestinian law, Abbas, as president of the Palestinian Authority, is responsible for foreign intelligence and national defense, while the yet-to-be-named prime minister is responsible for internal security, police and civil defense.
Saeb Erekat, senior Fatah official, said it was "too early for Mr. Mashaal to jump to conclusions about various appointments."
The Hamas leaders are traveling next to the Gulf nation of Qatar and will make stops in Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Another top Hamas leader said earlier Wednesday that Jamal al-Khudairi, an independent legislator and businessman who was backed by Hamas, would be named Palestinian prime minister.
Al-Khudairi, about 50, is board chairman of Gaza's Islamic University and owns the biggest mattress factory in the West Bank and Gaza.
Meanwhile, two masked gunmen kidnapped an Egyptian diplomat yesterday as he traveled in his car to the Egyptian representative office in Gaza City, another Egyptian diplomat in Gaza said.
The gunmen shot out the tires of consular official Hussam Almousaly's car and seized him, the second diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The identity of the gunmen or their motive was not immediately known. Witnesses said Almousaly was abducted 200m from his office, which is under 24-hour guard.
In other developments, two Palestinians armed with an explosives belt attacked the Erez checkpoint between Israel and Gaza before daybreak Thursday, and were killed in an ensuing shootout with Israeli troops, the military said.
The Palestinians threw hand grenades and opened fire on Israeli forces guarding the checkpoint, and soldiers shot the attackers, killing both, the military said.
A spokesman for Gaza militants said two fighters of the Popular Resistance Committees and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Fatah, had been killed.
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
China yesterday held a low-key memorial ceremony for the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not attending, despite a diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo over Taiwan. Beijing has raged at Tokyo since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last month said that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Japan. China and Japan have long sparred over their painful history. China consistently reminds its people of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, in which it says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in what was then its capital. A post-World War II Allied tribunal put the death toll
A passerby could hear the cacophony from miles away in the Argentine capital, the unmistakable sound of 2,397 dogs barking — and breaking the unofficial world record for the largest-ever gathering of golden retrievers. Excitement pulsed through Bosques de Palermo, a sprawling park in Buenos Aires, as golden retriever-owners from all over Argentina transformed the park’s grassy expanse into a sea of bright yellow fur. Dog owners of all ages, their clothes covered in dog hair and stained with slobber, plopped down on picnic blankets with their beloved goldens to take in the surreal sight of so many other, exceptionally similar-looking ones.
‘UNWAVERING ALLIANCE’: The US Department of State said that China’s actions during military drills with Russia were not conducive to regional peace and stability The US on Tuesday criticized China over alleged radar deployments against Japanese military aircraft during a training exercise last week, while Tokyo and Seoul yesterday scrambled jets after Chinese and Russian military aircraft conducted joint patrols near the two countries. The incidents came after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi triggered a dispute with Beijing last month with her remarks on how Tokyo might react to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan. “China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a US Department of State spokesperson said late on Tuesday, referring to the radar incident. “The US-Japan alliance is stronger and more
RSS