Islamic Hamas movement, which controls Gaza Strip, said on Thursday that the one-day Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo Wednesday did not meet the hopes of Gazans in lifting a tight Israeli blockade.
"Under these difficult and catastrophic conditions the Gaza Strip endures, an official Arab decision to end the siege completely should have been made," said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas.
Israel sealed off the coastal strip earlier this month after violence flared up and rocked an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and the Jewish state.
Hamas has been controlling the strip since June 2007 after it routed security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of rival Fatah.
Barhoum also criticized the Arab ministers for not taking an actions "against the conditions that thwart efforts" to reconcile it with Fatah.
Instead, the ministers called on Abbas to stay on in his post to continue his responsibility as president of the Palestinian National Authority, said the Hamas spokesman.
The term of Abbas is a core obstacle between Hamas and Fatah. Abbas, whose term ends in January 2009, plans to stay an additional year in office, letting his term ends together with the term of the Hamas-controlled parliament in 2010.
Hamas was also unsatisfied because it was not invited into the meeting.
Source: Xinhua
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