Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that he would send a delegation to the Gaza Strip for reconciliation with Hamas following Israel’s botched aid flotilla raid. “The best answer to (the raid)... is for Palestinian groups to reconcile and resist Israel hand-in-hand,” Abbas told Turkey’s NTV news channel in Istanbul where he was to attend the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
“We have put together a delegation from the Palestinian leadership to go to Gaza and persuade Hamas to reconcile,” said Abbas. He stated the only condition for reconciliation with the Gaza rulers is to accept the plan created by Egypt last year that called for Hamas and Fatah to make peace and hold elections.
“I believe and hope that this time we will succeed,” he added.
Abbas went on to describe Israel’s flotilla raid as a “massacre” and called for addition aid conveys to try and penetrate the blockade. “If these convoys have been unsuccessful in lifting the blockade, then efforts must undoubtedly be intensified,” he said. “All methods must be tried in order to end the embargo and pressures imposed on the Palestinian people.”
