Rajoub: American and Israeli parties rejected the Fatah and Hamas alliance

The Secretary of the Central Committee of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), Jibril Rajoub, said on Monday that American and Israeli parties rejected his movement's alliance with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

"We are a movement that is open to everyone, and our project is national. We do not place a (veto) on anyone, and Hamas is a partner in the national project ... and we are with the formation of a national front to confront the occupation," Rajoub added.

Rajoub indicated that Fatah will run in the legislative elections in a unified list, saying, "I do not expect a respectable Fatah, who is careful and honorable, to deviate from the Fatah consensus."

He pointed out that the Palestinian leadership sought to form a national council (the parliament of the Liberation Organization) that would include all Palestinians.

He pointed out that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas presented the Fatah Central Committee with a vision to solve Gaza's problems, and instructed its implementation before going to the Cairo dialogue at the beginning of next February.

General Palestinian elections are scheduled to take place in three phases during the current year: legislative on May 22, presidential on July 31, and elections to the National Council on August 31, according to a previous presidential decree.

Mediation and Agreements

Since 2007, there has been a split between Fatah and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and several mediation and agreements in early January resulted in the two movements agreeing on the shape and timing of the elections.

The last Palestinian elections for the Legislative Council were held in 2006, and Hamas won a majority, while it was preceded by a year of presidential elections in which current President Mahmoud Abbas won.

Regarding the relationship with the new US administration, Rajoub said, "We are open with everyone, but we will not accept exclusive American sponsorship of the peace process with Israel."

He added, "We do not bet on US President Joe Biden. We are with UN and Arab sponsorship. We accept Egypt and Jordan, but we will not accept in any way the sponsorship or participation of the United Arab Emirates."

More than once, the Palestinian leadership called for an international conference for the peace process, under the auspices of the United Nations, and with the participation of international and Arab parties.