Hamas Government Will Consider a Ceasefire With Israel if it Includes an End to the Siege on Gaza Strip

De facto government in Gaza says it will consider a ceasefire with Israel 

Date: 16 / 09 / 2007 Time: 09:47

Gaza – Ma'an – 

The de facto Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip on Sunday stated that it is in favour of a comprehensive mutual ceasefire with Israel in exchange for an end to the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

The government stressed its concern for the safety of the Palestinian people and said it frequently endeavours to ease the suffering caused by the crippling siege.

Spokesperson of the government, Tahir Al-Nunu, says that the government is following up the developments in the area and affirms its commitment to its manifesto regarding the ceasefire.

Arab consultations

The spokesperson also said that consultations are ongoing with Arab leaders in an attempt to rebuild the contiguity between the Palestinian people, and with their Arab and Islamic supporters.

Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyah, on Saturday evening telephoned Arab leaders and stressed that his government welcomes any intervention or mediation to end the domestic Palestinian dispute.

Haniyah spoke to the King of Bahrain, Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifah, and Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and expressed warm wishes on the occasion of Ramadan.

Haniyah commended both Bahrain and Kuwait in their support for the Palestinian people and said that the division in the Palestinian arena must end. He said that the political dispute is merely a disagreement between allies.

Haniyah updated the two Arab leaders on the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and the consequent suffering, especially in the Gaza Strip.

Haniyah said that the caretaker government in Ramallah has dismissed more than 16,000 employees, in extremely difficult circumstances.

In recent days, Haniyeh has also held talks with other Arab and Islamic leaders, including the Saudi monarch, Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, his deputy, Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad, Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Sudanese President, Omar Al-Bashir, and Egyptian chief of intelligence, Umar Sulaiman.

In the phone calls, Haniyah reiterated his readiness to hold talks with President Abbas in order to end the internal Palestinian divide.

 Haniyah asks Kuwaiti, Bahraini leaders to contribute to end deadlock

[ 16/09/2007 - 11:54 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Ismail Haniyah, the premier of the PA caretaker government, has asked the Kuwaiti and Bahraini leaders to intervene and find a solution to the inter-Palestinian rupture.

Haniyah, in telephone conversations with the Amir of Kuwait Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmed and Bahraini King Issa Bin Hamad, stressed that his government was keen on national unity to end the root causes of differences in the Palestinian arena and to return cohesion to the Palestinian street.

Taher Al-Nunu, the spokesman of the government, said that the telephone contacts fell in line with Haniyah's series of contacts with Arab leaders to congratulate them on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan and to boost consultations and contacts between the Palestinian people and their Arab and Islamic depth.

Haniyah hailed the two countries' strong relations with Palestine and their role in backing of the Palestinian people at various stages.

The premier asserted unity of the Palestinian people and political system and his keenness on ending the state of discord through resuming national dialogue.

He also explained the repercussions of the siege imposed on the Palestinian people especially in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Nunu affirmed that Haniyah telephone contacts with those leaders reflect the strong relationship between his government and the Arab countries and refute the provocative media outlets' rumors that circulate false reports on differences between Haneyya's government and Arab countries.

For his part, Sami Abu Zuhri, the Hamas spokesman in the Strip, denied news reports quoting him as criticizing a number of Arab countries.

He stressed his Movement's keenness on its strategic ties with the Arab and Islamic countries on the official and popular levels.

He renewed denial of media reports that Hamas's relations with certain Arab countries, especially Egypt and Saudi Arabia, were strained, denying in the process the report that claimed Cairo and Riyadh had refused a visit by Hamas supreme leader Khaled Mesha'al to both capitals.

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Note to Readers:

The Israeli settlements as well as the Land-Grab, Apartheid Wall in the Palestinian occupied territories have been built illegally on confiscated Palestinian lands. These represent a major violation of international law, Geneva Conventions, and they obstruct reaching a peaceful resolution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The Israeli occupation forces abduct and kidnap Palestinians from their homes and at checkpoints, on daily basis. Most media refer to these abductions and kidnappings as arrests, which is inaccurate and not true as the Israeli occupation government has no jurisdiction over Palestinian citizens inside their own territories.

Further, when Israeli occupation forces kill Palestinian civilians, particularly when the victims are women and children, this should be referred to as an act of terrorism, and perpetrators should be described as terrorists.

Since the end of the second intifadha in 2005, not a single Israeli civilian was killed by Palestinian resistance organizations. However, Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces, almost on daily basis.

Note to Journalists:

Any journalist who does not describe this as terrorism is biased, unfair, not objective, and a participant in terrorizing the Palestinian people, so the Israeli occupation of Palestine can continue endlessly.

Note to Translators:

The Arabic definite article, Al (or its variant, El) should be written with a hyphen separating it from the noun it is associated with, for example Al-Aqsa. If a hyphen is not used, as in Al Aqsa, it confuses non-Arabic readers. They may think that it is an abbreviation of the name Albert, as many Americans do.

The Arabic definite article Al (or El) should be written as such, whether it is Shamsiyah or Qamariyah in pronunciation, simply because we are dealing with the written form of the language, not the spoken one. Using the Shamsiyah so many forms in writing is inaccurate and confusing to non-Arabic readers, to say the least.

Only standard (fasih) pronunciation of Arabic names should be used. Non-standard ('ammi)  should be avoided avoided. Example: Names like Abu Sunainah, Abu Rudainah, and Abu Shebak are written by some translators in the non-standard forms of Abu Snainah, Abu Rdainah, and Abu Shbak.

The standard pronunciation of the vowel at the end of names is (a), not (e), particularly if it is followed by (h), like in the cases of Haniyah and Rudainah, not Haniyeh and Rudaineh.

The standard pronunciation of vowels in the following names is (ai), not (ei) as written by  some translators: Hussain, not Hussein and Hassanain, not Hassanein. This is the same long vowel pronounced in the English words "rain" and "brain."

 

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