Senior Hamas leader and forner prime minister Ismail Haniya on Friday warned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas against making concessions to Israel at a scheduled international summit. "There will be a new peace conference later this year, but this conference will bring great losses, not only for the Palestinian cause but the entire Arab and Muslim world," said Ismail Haniya after leading thousands in prayer.
In a Friday sermon delivered to a packed soccer stadium, Haniya urged Abbas to "reject new concessions to the Israeli occupation, on the refugees, on the land, on Jerusalem, to our sacred right to that holy land."
Haniya spoke after leading morning prayers marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday. According to AFP, he accused Israel of using the conference as a way of naturalizing relations with Arab countries "without giving anything to the Palestinian people" and America of using the conference to advance its regional interests.
