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Aziz Dweik

Aziz Dweik

Hamas

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

20060216

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Abbas said to cut salaries of 37 Hamas lawmakers

2017-07-10

[IsraelTimes] Deputy speaker calls measure a ’declaration of war’ on Paleostinian Legislative Council; Abbas threatens ’economic sanctions’ The Paleostinian Authority cut the salaries of 37 Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", politicians as part of a series of measures to get the terror group to cede control of the Gazoo Strip, Paleostinian media reports said on Sunday. The PA finance ministry informed MPs from Hamas’s Change and Reform bloc who are living in the West Bank that they would no longer receive their salaries, First Deputy Speaker of the Paleostinian parliament Ahmed Bahar, told the news site Safa. Bahar called the measure a "declaration of war" against the Paleostinian Legislative council. The speaker of the parliament, Aziz Dweik ...Dweik has been associated with The Moslem Brotherhood and Hamas since as early as 1992.... , was among those who had their salaries cut, Bahar said. According to Paleostinian law, Dweik would become Abbas’s temporary successor should the 82-year-old PA president no longer be able to continue his duties. The Paleostinian parliament has not met since 2007, following a battle between Hamas and the PA’s ruling Fatah party. Bahar noted the PA cut the salaries of all Hamas MPs living in Gazoo following the terror group’s takeover of the Strip in 2007. Since April, in a series of measures meant to force Hamas give up control in Gazoo, Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... has cut funds for Israeli-supplied electricity to Gazoo by 35 percent, reduced by one-third the salaries of tens of thousands of PA employees in Gazoo, reduced the medical budget for Gazoo by a reported 90% and forced more than 6,000 PA employees Gazoo into early retirement. The Paleostinian Authority argues, along with Israel, that Hamas puts taxes it collects into its own coffers and military, while Ramallah pays the bills to keep the Strip’s institutions and infrastructure running. In June, with Egyptian mediation, Dahlan and Hamas reportedly agreed to establish a new "management committee" of Gazoo, which would see the Fatah strongman share control of the Paleostinian enclave. Why is President Sisi undermining President Abbas? In an interview published in the Pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat on Sunday, Abbas said he would make a decision after his meetings in Cairo whether to impose "immediate financial sanctions" on Hamas’s leadership should it continue what he called "the coup on the institutions of the state of Paleostine in Ramallah." Abbas did not make clear how he would implement the sanctions or what they would be.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

PA arrests senior Hamas official's employee in WB

2012-07-27

The Not Ready for Prime Time Players show their stuff. [Jerusalem Post] The Paleostinian Authority security forces in the West Bank Thursday tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... the director of the office of Abdel Aziz Dweik ...Dweik has been associated with The Moslem Brotherhood and Hamas since as early as 1992.... , a senior Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, representative who was released last week from Israeli prison. Dweik, who serves as speaker of the Paleostinian Legislative Council, was released from Israeli prison after serving six months in administrative detention. The director of his office, Baha Farah, was summoned for investigation by the PA's Preventive Security Force on Wednesday night. Later, he was ordered held in detention for 15 days. Dweik condemned the arrest of his aide, saying the PA has decided to "welcome his release from Israeli prison by arresting the director of my office." Dweik said that the only crime that his aide had committed was that he was receiving his salary from the Gazoo Strip. He held the Preventive Security Force responsible for any harm caused to his aide during his stay in a Paleostinian prison in Ramallah. "Is this the way the Paleostinian Authority greets me upon my release from Israeli prison -- by arresting my assistant?" Dweik asked in a statement. A PA security official in Ramallah refused to comment on the arrest of Farah. Dweik, the highest ranking Hamas figure in the West Bank, received a phone call shortly after his release from newly elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to offer his greetings. Dweik was also scheduled to meet in the coming days with PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... in Ramallah, who also phoned him to greet him. In a related development, PA security forces tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... another four Hamas supporters in the West Bank in the past 48 hours, sources close to the Islamist movement said. One of the detainees, Rashid Khatib, also works as director of the office of a Hamas politician in Jericho. The other three detainees are had recently been released from Israeli prison.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel Detains Hamas Head of Palestinian Parliament

2012-01-20

[An Nahar] The Israeli army on Thursday tossed in the slammer the Paleostinian parliamentary speaker, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, member Aziz Dweik ...Dweik has been associated with The Moslem Brotherhood and Hamas since as early as 1992.... , in the West Bank, a senior colleague told Agence La Belle France Presse. Dweik was jugged by soldiers at a checkpoint in Jabaa, between Ramallah and Jerusalem, as he was traveling to Hebron in the southern West Bank, the leader of the cabinet, Bahaa Youssef, told AFP. Last May, Dweik was held at an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank along with three other Hamas parliamentarians. One of them, Nizar Ramadan, was jugged while the others were allowed to proceed. Some 20 of Hamas' 74 MPs in the 132-member Paleostinian legislative council are currently being held by Israel. Most of them, including two former ministers, have been tossed in the slammer in the West Bank since October 2010. Almost all of the officials were among 64 Hamas parliamentarians and government members previously tossed in the slammer by Israel after the seizure of one of its soldiers, Gild Shalit, in June 2006 near the Islamist-ruled Gazoo Strip. Shalit was freed on October 18 in a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas. The first stage of the deal in October saw 477 Paleostinians, including hundreds serving life for killing Israelis, released.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Shaath: Palestinian leaders mulling one-state solution

2011-04-02

[Ma'an] Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Sha'ath said Thursday that a bi-national state was one of "many ideas" being formulated by the Paleostinian leadership. Paleostinian leaders plan to declare an independent state in September, and to seek UN recognition of that state. The Middle East Quartet ... The Quartet are the UN (xylophone), the United States (alto), the European Union (soprano), and Russia (shortstop). The group was established in Madrid in 2002 by former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Tony Blair is the Quartet's current Special Envoy.... -- the UN, US, EU and Russia -- and US President Barack B.O. Obama set September as the goal for establishing a Paleostinian state. Paleostinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's ...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either... two-year state-building plan is due to be completed in September. However, The all-purpose However... if a Paleostinian state is not established, several alternatives are being discussed by Paleostinian leaders, Sha'ath said. The senior Fatah official told Ma'an that one option to end the occupation was to form one state across all of historic Paleostine, in which Paleostinians would demand citizenship and equal civil rights. "Historic Palestine" being all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon/Syria and Egypt, the way it's portrayed on the maps in PA schoolhouses? How clever they are, to be sure. He said leaders were also considering dissolving the Paleostinian Authority and ending all Paleostinian commitments to Tel Aviv, leaving Israel fully responsible for its occupation. What'll they do if Israel refuses, as Jordan and Egypt have refused? Placing Paleostine under the mandate of the UN General Assembly was also being considered, Sha'ath said. It'd be interesting if France gets control, or China, or Burma. It'd be even more interesting if it were a rotating committee -- all the corruption with none of the personal interest... and a new set to start over with every few years. There's an idea. Make it like the Office of the Presidency of the EU. A country gets a year to 'lead' the Paleo state: all the responsibility and none of the authority. I'd start with Uruguay... Israel has warned that Paleostinians will face retaliatory measures if they seek recognition of a Paleostinian state at the UN General Assembly. Votes in the General Assembly are meaningless, guys. Only Security Council decisions are enforceable. Israel's Foreign Ministry front man Yigal Palmor told AFP that the ministry was working to ensure that there wouldn't be a vote at the UN. Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory the fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... a senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow to dissuade Russia from supporting the EU's intention to present a plan for the establishment of a Paleostinian state, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported. Israel insists that a Paleostinian state can only be established through talks. The UN's recognition of a state would be "the end of the path of dialogue and negotiation," the foreign ministry front man said. "If problems can no longer be solved through dialogue we shall also take unilateral measures ... without at the moment threatening anything concrete," Palmor added. Paleostinian reconciliation Israel has also warned that national Paleostinian unity would be the end of negotiations with Israel. Netanyahu said the Paleostinian Authority could not have peace with both Israel and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,. "It's one or the other, but not both," he told Jewish fundraisers in a speech distributed on Tuesday by the Israeli Government Press Office. In the wake of mass youth protests across the West Bank and Gazoo demanding an end to the division, Abbas accepted an invitation from Hamas premier Ismail Haniyeh to hold unity talks in the Gazoo Strip. On Saturday, Abbas met with a delegation of Hamas leaders in Ramallah, the first such meeting in over two years. Both sides described the talks as "positive." Hamas head of the Paleostinian legislature Aziz Dweik ...Dweik has been associated with The Moslem Brotherhood and Hamas since as early as 1992.... led the delegation, and said he expected his party to accept Abbas' initiative to end the division by forming a unity government to prepare for elections. Sha'ath said that Abbas told the Hamas leaders that he was willing to give up US aid, worth $475 million annually, to make peace with Hamas. Following Hamas' victory in 2006 elections, the international community withdrew its funding from the Paleostinian Authority, although it recognized that the elections were free and fair. A unity government survived for a year without foreign aid, but collapsed when Hamas ousted Fatah from Gazoo in bloody street battles in 2007. The international community lifted its economic sanctions of the Fatah-led Paleostinian Authority, which retained control in the West Bank. But Israel imposed a tight blockade of Gazoo widely considered to be a form of collective punishment and illegal under international law.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas official: Party will accept Abbas initiative to end division

2011-03-31

[Ma'an] Hamas head of the Palestinian legislature Aziz Dweik ...Dweik has been associated with The Mohammedan Brotherhood and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, since as early as 1992.... said Tuesday that the party would respond positively to President Mahmoud Abbas' initiative to visit Gaza and end the national division. Dweik told Ma'an Radio that Abbas' proposed visit would be a practical step toward resolving the split between the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Dweik headed a delegation of Hamas leaders who held landmark talks with Abbas in Ramallah on Saturday, the president's first meeting with Hamas in over two years. In the midst of mass youth protests demanding an end to the national division, Gaza premier Ismail Haniyeh invited Abbas to Gaza for emergency talks. The president accepted the invitation on March 16, but said he would go to the coastal enclave to make a unity deal, not to discuss one. He proposed forming a unity government to prepare for presidential, legislative and Palestinian National Council elections within six months. Fatah officials said a date would be set for Abbas' visit once Hamas accepted the initiative. Dweik said he expected Hamas officials to respond positively within the next week. In Cairo, Hamas leader Mahmud Zahar said the party would hold another meeting in Gaza "in the coming two days" with Fatah members. Zahar's comments were made after a meeting with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, who said the league was willing to host Palestinian unity meetings. "There is no justification whatsoever for the continued Palestinian division," Mussa said, stressing the need to "unify Palestinian ranks ahead the current challenges." Israel slams initiative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned the PA not to reconcile with Hamas, saying it would prohibit peace with Israel. "We hear in recent days that the Palestinian Authority is thinking of uniting with Hamas," Netanyahu told Jewish fundraisers in a speech distributed on Tuesday by the Israeli Government Press Office. "It's thinking of effecting peace, not with Israel, but with Hamas," he said. "Well, I say to them something very simple: you can't have peace with Israel and Hamas. It's one or the other, but not both." Fatah and Hamas split in 2007 when the Islamist movement kicked its secular rivals out of Gaza amid clashes which neared civil war. Since then, Gaza has been effectively cut off from the West Bank, which is under the control of Fatah, and repeated attempts at reconciliation have led nowhere. The split has badly damaged Palestinian efforts to end Israel's illegal military occupation. A growing Palestinian youth movement is demanding national unity, and elections for the Palestinian National Council. Abbas' proposed visit was immediately welcomed by UN envoy Robert Serry, who noted that unity was "overdue and vital for Palestinian legitimate aspirations."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas` PLC bloc: PA forces raid home of member

2010-04-08

[Ma'an] Hamas' parliamentary bloc accused Palestinian Authority security forces of breaking into the home of the movement's lawmaker and detaining a relative in Hebron on Wednesday. A statement released by Hamas said Palestine Legislative Council member Mohammad At-Tal's home was stormed by PA forces who detained his brother, Rami. "Fatah and its parliamentary bloc is responsible for tightening its practices against lawmakers affiliated with the [Hamas] bloc, obstructing their role within the Palestinian Legislative Council," the statement read. The policy, they said, reflected the movement's decision to prohibit PLC speaker Aziz Dweik from holding an emergency session of the body in Ramallah last month, prompting the official to symbolically resign and hand over power to his deputy. Hamas called on the PA to immediately release all political prisoners as a "solidarity" gesture for detainees in Israeli custody, and urged "all Palestinian factions to express their national stance in an honest and clear way."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Dweik condemns attack by PA security forces

2010-01-26

[Ma'an] Aziz Dweik, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Hamas affiliate, condemned on Monday what he described as an attack by security forces against his staff at the PLC headquarters, including the searching his car and detaining its driver for two hours, he said in a statement. "This attack represents a clear policy undertaken by these parties, who seek to disable all efforts for the success of reconciliation efforts," Dweik's statement read. "[searching my car] is a dangerous precedent, and a flagrant violation of the immunity granted me according to Palestinian Basic Law, which prevents the searching of my luggage, home, or car. This represents a personal attack on this constitutional institution [the PLC] and its president." The statement added that the incident indicated a rejection of national reconciliation, having followed a news conference where Dweik discussed the need to promote dialogue and achieve national unity. The de facto Ministry of Information condemned the searching of both Dweik and Mahmoud Ar-Ramahi, secretary of the PLC's vehicles in a separate statement. "This incident represents strange behavior, far from Palestinian norms ... [we consider] the repeated violations of law in the West Bank conformation that, in reality, freedoms and rights are going through its worst phase." Six staff members of the PLC member were arrested by Palestinian Authority police as they exited the PLC Headquarters in Ramallah on Sunday, lawmaker Ar-Ramahi reported. Among the six was the driver of PLC Dr Aziz Dweik. The driver was detained along with the keys to Dweik's car, stranding the official in Ramallah. The official term of the PLC came to an end Sunday, with sides calling into question the legitimacy of the PLO move to extend its term. One PLC member handed over his PA-issued vehicle in the afternoon, saying he was "no longer a PLC member."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Dweik: Hamas doesnt recognize Israel

2010-01-22

[Ma'an] Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Aziz Dweik on Thursday denied reports by Israeli news outlets that he said on Wednesday Israel has a right to exist. "The media reports in question were inaccurate," he said in a statement, adding that since his release from an Israeli prison last year, Israeli news outlets have repeatedly misrepresented his views. The Jerusalem Post, an English-language Israeli newspaper, quoted Dweik as saying on Wednesday that the Islamic movement has accepted Israel's right to exist and would be prepared to nullify its charter, which calls for dismantling the state. The remarks were said to have been made during a meeting in Hebron with British millionaire David Martin Abrahams, who reportedly maintains close ties with senior Israeli and British government officials. Dweik told Ma'an, however, that he offered no such recognition of Israel's "right to exist on Palestinian land," as was reported, and moreover, that he told Abrahams the PLO had made a mistake by nullifying its charter. "The PLO canceled its charter, and Palestinians achieved nothing," he said. "This is Hamas' stance and the opinion of any Hamas leader regarding the nullification of [its] charter." Dweik said the talks was held at Abrahams' request, and came within a series of meetings with the PLC's leadership with international officials, delegations and other news outlets. There was nothing unusual about Abrahams' visit, he said. The Ramallah-based Hamas leader was seized along with dozens of others during arrest raids in retaliation for the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006. Dweik was detained for three years, officially for belonging to Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist organization. Abrahams, who the The Jerusalem Post identified as a major donor to Britain's Labor Party, told the newspaper he would urge Foreign Secretary David Milliband to "consider the implications of Hamas's positive overtures." "The fact that there is a possibility for recognition of Israel is a symbolic gesture," he reportedly said. "We can all look for good in people and we can all look for bad in people. I always look for the good." He was also quoted as saying: "People might say that I'm naïve, so let them. But I'm prepared to give them a chance because I've got faith and confidence in Dwaik and [Gaza Prime Minister Ismail] Haniyeh. We can't allow 1.5 million to be festering in the Gaza Strip while the majority of them are good and well-educated."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Abbas term extension devoid of legitimacy

2009-12-18

[Iran Press TV Latest] The Palestinian Legislative Council speaker says the the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has no constitutional authority to extended the tenure of Mahmoud Abbas as acting chief of the Palestinian Authority. "The PLO's central council violated all political norms when it took such a step and interfered in the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC)," Aziz Dweik told Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite news channel on Wednesday. "The solution to discord over Abbas' term extension lies in one of these two things: either to task legal experts with in-depth study of the matter or to resolve it through a national reconciliation agreement," he added. On Wednesday, officials from the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) decided Mahmoud Abbas would remain in office for the foreseeable future. The vote endorsed Abbas' earlier decision to call off the January 24 presidential and legislative elections due to the boycott of the vote in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas movement. Parliament's mandate was extended too at the PLO meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Abbas says it is impossible to hold the elections due to Hamas' refusal to allow voting in the Gaza Strip. The Central Council also endorsed Abbas' refusal to return to negotiations with Israel until the regime stops the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied lands. "We will not go to negotiations until Israel fully halts settlement activities and agrees to a term of reference for such negotiations," said PLO Central Council member Tawfiq al-Tirawi. Abbas' failure to mend fences with the rival Hamas movement has impaired his reputation among scores of Palestinians.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Freed Hamas speaker urges Israel to accept truce

2009-06-28

[Beirut Daily Star: Region] The Hamas speaker of the Palestinian Parliament, freed by Israel this week after three years in prison, has urged Israel to accept a long-term truce offered by the Islamist group. Although Hamas refuses to recognize Israel, it is offering "some type of reconciliation" that could, if accepted, bring lasting peace to the Middle East, Abdel-Aziz Dweik told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. Israel should withdraw from Palestinian land to the borders it had before the 1967 Middle East War, and permit the creation of a Palestinian state with a pledge of non-violence, he said. "We have to grasp this opportunity," Dweik said. "This is a moment of truth ... I hope the Israelis will take advantage of it for their benefit and for our benefit." Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, opposes the dominant Palestinian Fatah group that recognizes Israel and is ready to conclude a comprehensive peace treaty. Hamas does not recognize Israel but has spoken of a 15-year truce. Dweik said any truce should last as long as possible to allow reconciliation. "Let Israel be clever enough to extend this kind of truce as much as they can, so that there will be a generation which will put aside any kind of dispute and reconcile," he said. "I have repeatedly advised the Israelis," he added. "I told them that a new generation will grow instead of young people strapping explosive belts on their waists saying I want to kill myself and kill my enemy."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Dweik is real Palestinian president

2009-06-26

[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Hamas said on Wednesday that Abdel Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council who was released a day earlier from Israeli prison, should be treated as acting president of the Palestinian Authority. Meanwhile, the PA is planning to release on Thursday 40 Hamas members who are being held without trial in its prisons in the West Bank. Earlier this week, the PA leadership said it would free hundreds of Hamas detainees as a gesture aimed at boosting the chances of reconciliation with the Islamist movement. According to the PA constitution, if the office of the president is considered vacant, the PLC speaker serves as interim president for 60 days until new elections are held in the Palestinian territories. Mahmoud Abbas's four-year term ended in January, turning Dweik, the most senior Hamas representative in the West Bank, into acting president, according to Hamas. "Dweik is the real president of the Palestinian people after Abbas's term in office expired in January," said Hamas legislator Salem Salameh. Dweik's release has raised concerns among Fatah representatives in the West Bank who also criticized Abbas for rushing to phone him shortly after he walked out of prison.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Thousands mark Hamas anniversary

2008-12-14

Thousands of people have gathered on Sunday in Gaza to celebrate the 21st anniversary of Hamas as Haniya was expected to announce whether or not the truce would be extended. A series of Hamas leaders have addressed massive crowds of supporters on the 21st anniversary of the founding of the Hamas movement. The day's festivities were aired on Al-Aqsa satellite TV, and are expected to be followed with a landmark speech by Palestinian Prime Minister of the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh. "Hamas has gone from stonethrowing to guns and rockets, from a support base of a few thousand people to a backing of millions in Arab countries and around the world," one of the movement's top officials in Gaza, Mahmud Zahar, boasted on the Hamas website. "It has succeeded in striking at Israel's national security." Hamas television put the turnout for the afternoon demonstration in Katiba Square in the city centre in the hundreds of thousands. Hamas member Salah Al-Bardawil told thousands in Gaza City Sunday imprisoned member of the Palestinian Legislative Council Aziz Dweik is the next legitimate Palestinian President until such time as elections are called, Ma'an reported. Al-Bardawil told the crowd that Dweik would be the next President on 9 January "in accordance with the Palestinian basic law." He explained that Dweik will be president for 60 days during which he will prepare for presidential elections. Hamas officials say Israel failed to honour its side of the bargain by easing its crippling blockade of aid-dependent Gaza. According to the terms of the ceasefire Israel would open the Gaza Strip crossing points, allowing in sufficient quantities of fuel, food, goods and building supplies. The Strip had been under a tight blockade until the ceasefire took effect. During the six months of the agreement, however, Gaza was not sufficiently supplied. "There is no sense in extending the truce while the enemy is not respecting it and is keeping Gaza in a state of siege," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum, without saying whether the Islamists intended to declare it over. The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine on Sunday called on all Palestinian factions to refuse to renew the truce with Israel, which will expire on December 19, KUNA reported. The movement said in a statement that "The renewal of calm at this stage will give the Zionist enemy the opportunity to implement its plans against the Palestinians." According to this statement, "We call upon the resistance factions to agree on a consensus to refuse to renew the truce which has become a threat to the higher Palestinian interests."

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