After the major policy addresses by U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Khaled Mashaal of the Hamas terrorist organization planned to deliver a speech of his own. However, he canceled his speech at the last minute, making way for the Palestinian Authority’s prime minister Salam Fayyad. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is silent.
Mashaal was supposed to speak in Damascus on Saturday, reports Arab affairs expert Dalit HaLevy, but he did not.
Hamas and Fatah have been openly hostile towards each other for more than two years, since before Hamas took over control of Gaza from the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority in the summer of 2007. Fatah had been hoping that Hamas would respond to Obama’s speech, which was very welcoming to official Palestinian positions, with gestures or remarks that could lead to a dialogue with Washington.
However, HaLevy reports, Hamas officials say that Mashaal postponed his speech for three reasons:
- The meeting on Saturday in Damascus between Syrian leader Bashar Assad and PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas. It was not explained how the meeting affected the speech.
- Abbas and Assad agreed to work together to pressure Israel to halt settlement growth and agree to form a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria.
- PA prime minister Salam Fayyad is scheduled to give a speech of his own this Monday. Like Obama’s and Netanyahu’s, it will be given in a university – Al Quds University in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Dis.
Egypt is pressuring Hamas to moderate its stance. However, Mashaal has already intimated that he will not give in to Egyptian pressure regarding the release of the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, whom Hamas captured three years ago.
Mashaal says Hamas has no intention of relaxing its demands and presenting a new or smaller list of prisoners in the negotiations over the price for releasing Shalit. Though Egypt insists that there is no chance that the Netanyahu government will release the high-profile terrorists that Hamas demands, Mashaal says it will never release Shalit for less.
Hamas: US Dayton is Building PA Force
Speaking with Kuwaiti reporters on Saturday, Mashaal said that United States security coordinator Keith Dayton is the one making decisions in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas in terms of building the PA’s military force. Dayton is building the Palestinian Authority’s security services and training them how to be oppressive, Mashaal said, comparing Dayton to Sir John Bagot Glubb, who trained and led the Jordanian army from 1939 to 1956.