The terrorist organization Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, held a national meeting Saturday with political leaders from various factions and other terrorist organizations. Their goal was to strategize a response the soon to be released US peace plan.
A statement from the Islamist Hamas rulers in the strip said the meeting, held at the Commodore Hotel in Gaza City, was titled “United against the Deal of the Century” and involved the “broad participation of faction leaders and national forces، and a large national presence.”
President Trump has referred to the peace plan as the “Deal of the Century,” while noting that former peace plans had failed or not been agreed to by the Palestinians.
Earlier this week Hamas announced it would be forming a supreme national committee against the deal of the century that would include national, regional, and international players including Iran.
“We are working to face the ‘deal of the century’ and we want to achieve a real national unity that respects all the Palestinians,” Hamas terrorist leader Salah Al Xardaweel said Tuesday.
The release of the Trump administration’s peace plan, which the Palestinians expect to be blatantly biased towards Israel, has pushed the rival Palestinian factions to move towards reconciliation in order to present a united front to confront the deal which they have not actually seen.
Hamas in particular has recently stepped up efforts to make peace with the West Bank based government, inviting PA President Mahmoud Abbas to attend next week’s event. Abbas has previously frozen funds to Gaza because the funds have been stolen by the terrorist leaders of Gaza.
Haniyeh reiterated the call on Saturday, saying Hamas’s leadership was ready to meet with Abbas “In Gaza… or Cairo… or anywhere. Ready.”
But, West Bank factions linked to Abbas’ Fatah party reportedly rejected invitations to attend the meeting، dissenting with the idea of a Gaza-based political entity acting as the representative for the Palestinian people.
Both the United States, Europe and most democracies in the world have officially declared Hamas a terrorist organization.