Minister Shaath: if Israel pledges to stop its aggression policy then Hamas, Jihad May Have No Choice
Minister of foreign affairs Dr. Nabeel Shaath who is a member of the official Palestinian delegation to both Sharm
El-Sheikh and Aqaba summits declared Wednesday at the Aqaba summit that if Israel pledges to stop its aggression and
killing of Palestinians then Hamas and Islamic Jihad will have no choice but to end violent resistance to Israeli
occupation .
“If the summit (in Aqaba) concludes with a clear statement in which Israel pledges to halt all violence against the
Palestinian people ... the responsibility will fall on Hamas and Jihad,” the PNA foreign minister Nabil Shaath told AFP.
Minister Shaath said the Aqaba meeting could be an opportunity to halt Jewish settlements—deemed illegal under
international law—to secure Israel’s withdrawal from land reoccupied after the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in
September 2000 and a commitment to a Palestinian state.
“Who would accept to take the responsibility of refusing all this in front of the Palestinian people?” Dr. Shaath asked,
adding that “the Palestinian street will be angry” if such an opportunity is missed.
PM Abbas said last week he was on the verge of a ceasefire deal with Hamas, who said Israel should halt its military
aggression against the Palestinian people before the Islamic Resistance Movement is willing to stop its resistance
against Israeli occupation.