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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Haniyeh urges Egypt to open Gaza border unilaterally |
| 2008-05-19 |
| (Xinhua) -- Deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya on Sunday called on Egypt to open its borders with the Gaza Strip if Israel rejects an Egyptian initiative for ceasefire. "If the occupation is not interested in the Egyptian initiative, Egypt is asked to unilaterally open Rafah crossing and break the siege on the Palestinian people," Haneya said in a televised speech. "We support Egypt in its moves to achieve a mutual lull with Israel, coincident with lifting the siege, stopping the aggression and reopening the crossing," Haneya added. Meanwhile, he said the Palestinians "are keen to end the issue of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit" who has been hold hostage in Gaza since 2006. Israel demands Shalit's issue to be settled under the Egyptian initiative, but the Palestinians want Israel to release some one thousand prisoners in exchange for Shalit. "Settling this issue will not take time if occupation government responded to the Palestinian people's demands," Haneya said. In addition, Haneya said his movement "is interested in resolving the internal Palestinian issues completely," referring to the differences with rival Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A Hamas delegation will hold talks with Egyptian officials on Tuesday to discuss Israel's response to the initiative. Israel tightened the siege on Gaza and increased military operations after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip by force last June. |
| Posted by:Fred |