July 7 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas plans to invite all Palestinian factions to address the latest uptick in violence in the West Bank, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has confirmed.
Abbas expects representatives of the Islamist Hamas movement to attend the meeting, as well as the Islamic Jihad organization, which has been the protagonist during the last months of heavy confrontations against the Israeli Army.
Increased tensions in recent months have resulted in the deaths of more than 185 Palestinians and 25 Israelis, amid fears of a widespread outbreak of violence.
Tensions have spiked especially since June 19, when an Israeli army raid in Jenin left seven Palestinians dead — including two minors — and more than 90 wounded. Just a day later, four Israelis were killed in an attack near the Eli settlement.
Abbas’s invitation has been confirmed by the member of the executive committee of the PLO and of the central committee of Al Fatá, Azzam al Ahmad, in statements to the daily Asarq al Awsat, where he explained that the decision to choose Cairo as the headquarters of the The purpose of the meeting is to facilitate as far as possible the presence of these groups.
Earlier, Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Ziyad Abu Amr had confirmed that the Egyptian government had agreed to host the meeting, but so far none of the Palestinian factions have confirmed their attendance.
It should be remembered that this past Wednesday members of Hamas and Al Fatá staged sporadic clashes in the Jenin cemetery, an expression of the strong differences that have separated both groups for years.
Al Ahmad took the opportunity to condemn these incidents, “consistent with the idea that Hamas has of betraying and shedding the blood of the Palestinians” while Al Fatá, in another additional statement, has denounced the Islamist movement for obeying “external agendas” against of the “unity of the Palestinian people”.
“We will not hesitate to cut the roots of the sedition,” the party’s central committee said in a statement.
