| WARNING: Anyone with high blood pressure, heart conditions, or live ammo close at hand ought to stop reading right now. |
Hamas signaled on Wednesday it still had problems accepting Western demands to recognize Israel and renounce violence, hours after international peace brokers agreed to temporarily send direct aid to the Palestinians. "The Quartet have conditions. They aim to push the Palestinian government to make concessions that harm (Palestinian) rights and red lines and give the (Israeli) occupation legitimacy," Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza. Haniyeh did not elaborate but Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghazi Hamad said a statement would be would be issued later on Wednesday in response to the Quartet's decision. Senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat told Reuters the Quartet's plan did not go far enough. Abbas appealed in a letter to the Quartet for funds to pay salaries, overdue since March, to 165,000 workers employed by the Palestinian Authority. "Besides the potential humanitarian crisis resulting from the general deterioration of the economic situation, inability to pay salaries might have deep destabilizing political and security implications," said Abbas. |