Hamas official calls on Quartet to reconsider Middle East conflict

GAZA, Sept. 25 – The political Advisor of the ousted Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya, Ahmed Yousef, called on the international Quartet to reconsider its position towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Yousef urged the Quartet in a letter published on Thursday to “revise its previous policies,” calling for recognizing the Hamas government of Haneya in Gaza, which “represents the Palestinian Legitimacy.”

Yousef called on the international body, which is mediating the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, to truly practice more pressure on Israel to abide by the international law which calls for achieving peace in the region.

The Quartet, which compromises the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, is expected to meet Friday at the UN general assembly in New York to discuss plans for bolstering the Annapolis process.

A group of prominent international aid agencies said on Thursday that the Mideast Quartet is “losing its grip” on the peace process and must radically revise its approach.

“Time is fast running out. The Quartet needs to radically revise its existing approach and shows the people of the region that it can help make a difference,” said the group in a statement.

Yousef accused the Quartet of ignoring the distress in the Gaza Strip and calls for ending the siege on it, adding that the Quartet has been unable to convince the United States to stop funding, arming and training Fatah Movement for toppling the democratically elected government.

Yousef also stressed that the Gaza government has shown political flexibility and exerted true efforts to stop the blood shedding in Gaza, adding that the government has acted responsibly in the issue of implementing the cease-fire with Israel.