The leaders of Russia and Turkey said on Wednesday that the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas should not be excluded from peace efforts in the Middle East, sparking Israel’s ire.
“Unfortunately Palestinians have been split into two ... In order to reunite them, you have to speak to both sides. Hamas won elections in Gaza and cannot be ignored,” Turkish President Abdullah Gul said at a joint press conference with visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The Russian president, who met Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus on Tuesday, said that no group should be excluded from peace efforts, without naming the group.
“Undoubtedly, all parties to this problem should be included more actively [in the process] in order to reach a solution. The process should not exclude anyone,” he said through an interpreter.
A divided Palestinian administration cannot help resolve the conflict, he said, adding that the division “causes the Palestinians to regress.”
Their remarks and Medvedev’s meeting with Meshaal unleashed an angry response from Israel, which said that it expected Russia to stand by the Jewish state against “Hamas terror.”
“There is no difference between Hamas actions against Israel and Chechen terror against Russia,” an Israeli foreign ministry statement said. “The foreign ministry vehemently rejects the call from the presidents of Russia and Turkey to include Hamas in the peace process and expresses deep disappointment over the meeting between the president of Russia and Khaled Meshaal in Damascus.”
“Hamas is a terrorist organization in every aspect, with the outspoken goal of destroying the state of Israel,” it said in a statement. “Israel has always stood by Russia in its fight against Chechen terror and that is what we expect with regard to Hamas terror against Israel.”
Before his talks in Damascus, Medvedev had held a telephone call with Israeli President Shimon Peres during which he was asked to convey a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Peres’s office said.
Peres said “Israel has no interest in a war with Syria or in heating up the northern border and that Israel is seeking a genuine peace with its Syrian neighbor.”
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