Hamas says it won’t attend meeting over Jerusalem

gaza city — Islamist movement Hamas said on Saturday it would not participate in a meeting of Palestinian leaders to debate responses to the controversial US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The decision not to take part in the meeting to begin late on Sunday is a further setback to failing reconciliation efforts between leading Palestinian factions.

“We have taken the decision not to participate in the meeting of the (Palestinian) Central Council in Ramallah,” Hamas said in a statement, however stressing its “commitment to the unity of our people”.

“The conditions under which the committee will be held will not enable it to carry out a comprehensive and responsible political review, and will prevent decisions that reach the level of our aspirations.”

The two-day meeting will bring together the heads of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinian peowple.

The conditions under which the committee will be held will not enable it to carry out a comprehensive and responsible political review, and will prevent decisions that reach the level of our aspirations. Hamas statement

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian movement, were invited to attend despite not being part of the PLO. Islamic Jihad has also announced it would not take part.

Hamas had been pushing for the meeting to be held outside the Palestinian territories but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decided instead to host it in Ramallah, the base of his government in the West Bank.

The Hamas statement said this left them subject to the “pressures” of Israel, which occupies the West Bank and regularly arrests Hamas officials. —