.bmp)
.bmp)
DAMASCUS, Syria-Hamas said Thursday that President Barack Obama's position toward the Palestinians does not represent change and will lead to the same mistakes as his predecessor, shortly after the new leader made his first public comments on the Gaza crisis since his inauguration.Obama said the cease-fire that recently ended the three week Israeli offensive in Gaza can only hold if Hamas stops firing rockets, Israel completes its withdrawal from Gaza and the U.S. and its allies support an anti-smuggling system that prevents the militant Palestinian group from rearming.Israel withdrew the last of its forces from Gaza on Wednesday, a day after Obama succeeded former President George W. Bush. Palestinian officials say the fighting in Gaza killed some 1,300 people. Beirut-based Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan(picture left) dismissed the new president's comments, saying "Obama is still on the same path as previous leaders and also will make the same mistakes as Bush that ignited the region instead of bringing stability." "Obama is insisting on not bringing any change even though his campaign slogan promised to bring change," Hamdan told Al-Jazeera television in an interview. "I don't think this is a very successful step toward dealing with the region, and this will mean the next 4 years will be a failure for the region."The spokesman said Obama should have talked about the need for Israel not to attack Gaza rather than for Hamas to stop its rocket fire.Israel launched its devastating air and ground assault on Dec. 27 to try to halt rocket fire from Gaza. Both sides ceased fire on Sunday, but significant challenges remain to achieve a sustainable peace, including reconciling the two main Palestinian factions,Hamas and Fatah. Hamas called Thursday for reconciliation with supporters of Fatah leader Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas but insisted on pursuing "resistance" against Israel.The condition appeared to preclude any agreement with Abbas, who seeks a peace deal with Israel and whose moderate Fatah faction was not among the groups that backed the statement by eight Damascus-based radical Palestinian factions including Hamas.Hamas seized control of Gaza from Fatah by force in 2007 and Fatah set up a rival Palestinian government in the West Bank. It has been conducting peace talks with Israel for more than a year.The eight factions said they will reject any political reconciliation deals that hinder the "continuity of the resistance" against Israel, a condition Fatah is sure to reject.Israel had no immediate comment.By AP
To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
