Fatah Commits to Resistance Arms, Says Use Exclusive to National Decision
Mohamed Nabil Helmy Asharq al-Awsat 12 October 2017
https://english.aawsat.com/mohamed-nabil-helmy/news-middle-east/fatah-commits-resistance-arms-says-use-exclusive-national-decision

Cairo– The round of negotiations complementing the Palestinian
reconciliation continued for the second day in a row in Cairo, witnessing a
preliminary agreement over Hamas’ weapons.

Fatah Member Abbas Zaki said that disarming Hamas or any other faction was
out of the question for the Palestinian Authority.

He told Asharq al-Awsat: “We believe that the weapons are needed and the
resistance is a duty, but we are seeking an agreement over the need for a
collective national decision as the basis for the use of those weapons.”

Zaki stressed that in the face of “an Israeli enemy arming the settlers, we
do not ask Hamas or the Jihad or other factions to disarm. Everyone must
know that we have not dropped the decision of the armed struggle, but it
should be based on national consensus.”

Former Fatah chief in Cairo, Barakat Al-Farra, expressed the same stance.

In remarks to Asharq al-Awsat, Farra said that the Palestinian
reconciliation was not aimed at disarming Hamas, but “the decision of the
resistance should go back to the Palestinian Authority, based on a
collective agreement.”

Sources in Fatah said that the movement had agreed to exempt Hamas from
recognizing Israel.

“We do not work with Israel; its government and its majority party must
recognize Palestine first. Hamas and others are not required to take the
step of recognizing the occupier. We must demand that the world withdraw its
recognition of Israel, based on UN Resolution 181 pertaining to the
partition of Palestine,” Zaki said.

Speaking on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set three
conditions for dealing with the new Palestinian government that would be
formed following the Cairo negotiations.

Those include, according to Netanyahu, recognizing Israel as a Jewish State,
dismantling Hamas’ military apparatus and cutting ties with Iran.

According to Samir Ghattas, an expert in Palestinian affairs and member of
the Egyptian parliament, the Israeli condition to recognize Israel as a
Jewish state lacks sound grounds, especially since “no country in the world
recognizes Israel as a Jewish state and that neither the Palestinian
Authority nor Fatah or Hamas is required to pay attention to such calls”.