Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Hamas blasts 'absurd' Paris conference

"The Paris conference is a return to the absurd negotiation approach, which lost the rights of the Palestinian people and gave legitimacy to the Zionist entity on Palestinian land," said Hamas spokesman Fawzy Barhoum in a statement.

Barhoum called on the various Palestinian Arab factions to unite on a "national strategy" centered on the "resistance in defense of our people."

The Paris conference included representatives of around 70 countries who later released a joint statement supporting an independent Palestinian state as part of a negotiated agreement with Israel.

The statement warned Israel and the PA against "unilateral steps" that could threaten a two-state solution, but included no serious enforcement mechanisms.

Israeli and PA representatives were not in attendance at the summit, which was backed by the PA but not by Israel, which insists that the only way to achieve peace is by direct negotiations.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke out against the conference on Sunday morning, describing it as "a worthless and empty conference. Its only purpose is to attempt to force Israel to agree to conditions which do not aid Israel's national interests. READ MORE