Hamas: Abbas speech in Washington begging in vain

The spokesman of Hamas Movement, Hazem Qasem, said Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech in Washington after meeting with the US President Donald Trump is mere begging that will not return the rights of the Palestinian people.

In a statement on Thursday, Qasem said that “the fancy that peace negotiations with Israel would ever lead to achievements is repetition of the same failure and insisting on offering more waivers”.

He opined that the PA political behavior will deepen the Palestinian internal division and disrupt the reconciliation. “Resistance in all forms is a strategic choice in order to regain the rights of Palestinians and allowing them determine their fate”, he said.

Abbas said, after he met with Trump in the White House on Wednesday, that he looks forward to working with Trump in order to achieve a historic peace deal in accordance with the two-state solution. Trump asked Abbas to carry on security coordination with Israeli authorities and to confront “terrorism”.