ISRAEL SAYS IT WILL NOT NEGOTIATE WITH A HAMAS-BASED PALESTINIAN GOVERNMENT

BY HERB KEINON OCTOBER 17, 2017 18:43

The statement was the first operative decision made by the Israeli government toward the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement reached earlier this month in Cairo.

2 minute read.

Israel will not conduct diplomatic negotiations with a Palestinian government that relies on Hamas unless the terrorist organization changes fundamentally, the security cabinet decided on Tuesday, in the wake of the recent Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement.

According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office after the security cabinet meeting, Israel will not hold talks with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas unless it recognizes Israel and stops terrorist activities, in accordance with Quartet principles set over a decade ago.

In addition, the statement said that Hamas must be disarmed, the bodies of Israeli soldiers and the Israeli citizens held by Hamas must be returned and the Palestinian Authority must assume full security control over the Gaza Strip -- including at the border crossings and in the prevention of smuggling arms into the coastal strip.

The other conditions set by the security cabinet for continued negotiations with the PA are that it must continue to thwart Hamas terrorist activity and the building of terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria, that Hamas be cut off from Iran and that funds and humanitarian supplies will flow into Gaza only through the PA and other internationally recognized mechanisms set up for this purpose.

-snip-