TEL AVIV, July 22 (RIA Novosti) - The Hamas movement will not obstruct the implementation of any peace deal reached between the Palestinian National Authority and Israel, the Haaretz daily reported on Wednesday.
Khaled Meshal, a Hamas political leader based in Syria, informed Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov of the radical Islamic group's intentions, who in turn passed on the news to the Israeli authorities, the paper said.
"Meshal... told Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov at their meeting in Damascus that if [PNA leader Mahmoud] Abbas reaches a final agreement on conflict settlement with Israel and this is approved by a Palestinian referendum, then Hamas will not scupper the deal," the daily reported.
Haaretz also said that "the Israeli authorities were unhappy with Russian contacts with high-ranking Hamas officials."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the Palestinian leadership to return to the negotiating table without any preconditions. The call was rejected by Palestinian President and leader of Fatah movement Abbas, who said negotiations would only resume if Israel halted settlement construction in the West Bank.
The Hamas and Fatah movements, the largest political organizations in Palestine, split in June 2007 when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and pushed the Fatah movement out of the enclave of 1.5 million. Hamas has since remained in power in Gaza, independent of the officially recognized government of Fatah in the West Bank, which is headed by Abbas.
