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| Britain |
| UK MPs call for talks with Hamas |
| 2008-07-25 |
| A UK parliamentary committee has called for dialogue with Hamas, as a UN report says poverty has reached an unprecedented high in the Gaza Strip. Gaza's economy has been hit hard by an Israeli embargo tightened when the militant group took control last year. Major world powers refuse to speak to Hamas unless it recognises Israel. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said 52% of Gaza households were living in poverty, and unemployment there had topped 45%. The House of Commons International Development Committee said in a report on Gaza that the current truce between Hamas and Israel, agreed on 19 June, "offers the international community an opportunity to begin a dialogue with Hamas". The aim of the talks should be to move the group towards accepting principles laid down by the international community and to repairing the rift between it and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, it said. The so-called quartet - the US, EU, UN and Russia - has said it will not talk to Hamas unless it recognises Israel's right to exist, renounces violence and agrees to abide by agreements made by the Palestinian Authority. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 On the subject of Gazans' resettlement in UK? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-07-25 03:24 |