Nayef Hawatmeh, the secretary general of the left-wing Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), has called on Hamas not to hold negotiations with Israel separate from those between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Hawatmeh told the Saudi newspaper Ukadh that parallel talks would serve the Israelis in their efforts to reduce the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to a mere security issue. He also said that Israel has sought to divide the Palestinian territories into separate administrative, security and residential zones.

Hawatmeh also criticized Hamas for failing to control the chaos on the southern border of the Gaza Strip: "The falling of a Palestinian homemade projectile mistakenly in the Egyptian territories was a negative indicator." He called on Hamas to respect Egyptian sovereignty after Egypt allowed Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to enter Egypt in January after the toppling of the border wall there.

Hawatmeh said Israel was responsible for the breach of the border wall between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, saying that poverty and hunger left Gazans no other choice.

The leftist leader also said that the DFLP believes that reunifying the Palestinian national movement is possible if Fatah and Hamas put national interests over their own, narrowly partisan interests.

He said the DFLP has proposed a plan to overcome the current state of division in Palestine. The plan requires Hamas to relinquish control of the Gaza Strip. Then, Hamas and Fatah would enter dialogue towards the creation of a caretaker government that would then hold new legislative and presidential elections. Following the elections, a national unity government would be formed.

Source: Maan News Agency