Hamas spokesman voices reservation on plan seeking settlement with Israel

Spokesman of the Palestinian government led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) voiced reservation on Saturday over a plan seeking a negotiated settlement with Israel.

Ghazi Hamad, spokesman of the Hamas-led cabinet, told local radio the "Voice of Palestine" that although the government accepted most of the points listed in the plan, it held reservation over some issues.

"The majority of the document is accepted (by the government) but some points are not," he said.

"But I think these points (not accepted by the government) can be solved through discussions and so there will be no obstacle in the way of adopting the document as a base for all factions," he added.

Hamad also reiterated that Hamas did not oppose President Mahmoud Abbas' call for a referendum on the plan dubbed "the Document of National Accordance" if Palestinian factions including Hamas and Abbas' Fatah failed to agree on it within 10 days.

"No one is against the referendum," Hamad said, voicing confidence that the referendum would "fortify Hamas by showing the people's will."

On Thursday, Abbas called for a referendum on the plan seeking a negotiated settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The plan, reached earlier this month by jailed Palestinian leaders from several factions including Fatah and Hamas in an Israeli prison, supports resistance against the Israeli occupation as well as a negotiated settlement with Israel.

It also calls for the formation of a Palestinian national unity government and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the Gaza Strip and West Bank with East Jerusalem as capital if Israel withdraws to borders before the 1967 Mideast war.

The proposal is widely seen as recognizing Israel implicitly.

Hamas' charter calls for Israel's destruction and the Islamic group, which took power in late March, has so far refused to renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and abide by previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements.

Meanwhile, local media on Saturday cited Hamas spokesman in the West Bank Adnan Asfour as saying that Hamas accepted 90 percent of the proposal but was reserved on the other 10 percent including the calls to follow international resolutions which enshrine a two- state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and respect the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole representative of the Palestinians.

The umbrella PLO, which espouses a negotiated peace with Israel, groups key Palestinian factions with Fatah as its backbone, but Hamas is not a member.

The Islamic Jihad (Holy War), another key Islamic group, rejected both the proposal, which it said was not compatible with its planks, and the referendum. Jihad is also sworn to Israel's destruct.

Hamas' reservation on the proposal came after Palestinian factions agreed during a Thursday and Friday national dialogue to boost national unity and end internal tensions triggered by Hamas and Fatah's struggle over control of security forces.

The factions also decided to continue talks over the proposal.

Source: Xinhua