Politician calls for ending division

Adviser of Palestinian President for Religious Affairs Mahmoud Habash praised the recent steps taken by the Egyptian government to restore its international position, saying that it already managed to restore its role on the regional and international arena during the recent period.

He blamed what he described as political unrest witnessed in the country since 2011 for the increasing decline witnessed in the country’s position on both regional and international level, adding that the recent visit conducted by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi to the U.S provides clear evidence that the country restores its international position.

He added, in interview with “Arabs Today”, that the region need a serious role for Egypt during the coming period, stressing that if Egypt managed to keep its stability, it would leave positive effects on the Middle East as whole. He stressed that the Palestinian issue suffered from the ignorance of the Arab countries during the recent years due to the state of instability that dominated the region since the launch of Arab spring revolutions.

He called the Egyptian people for rallying behind their leadership during the current period, saying that the Egyptians themselves bear the responsibility to restore their country’s position before the world and overcome the current economic challenges. He added that they should realize the conspiracies aiming to overthrow their country during the current critical period.

He added that the Palestinian division performed a major role to harm the Palestinian issue, saying that the Arab countries were preoccupied by their internal problem, while the Palestinians were preoccupied by their differences during the recent years. He called the Palestinian movements to take serious steps to end the current division and to resolve their internal problems as soon as possible.

He warned Hamas of any potential steps to form an independent commission to manage the Gaza Strip, saying that such a step meets the aspiration of the Israeli government that works to separate the Gaza strip from the West Bank. He stressed that such position serves the Israeli interests not to commit to the two-state solution.

He added that the current moves taken by Hamas supports the Israeli government headed by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to challenge the two-state solution and to undermine any opportunity aiming to achieve the peace process. He called Hamas movement for paying attention to such plans that should be confronted by a unified Palestinian position.

He demanded Hamas to support the coming steps to form a national unity government paving the way for holding presidential and legislative elections, praising his government's relation with the Arab countries describing them as strategic relations. He added that the Palestinian Authority builds its relations with the Arab partners upon the strategic interests.