Senior Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzouk has said that the obligations of the PLO towards Israel and the international community have brought the siege to the Gaza Strip. He also called for an end to security coordination with Israel, Felesteen newspaper reported on Thursday.

“The Palestinian Authority (PA) is one of the obstacles in the case of the current Intifada, which extended to all the territories controlled by the PA,” Abu Marzouk said during a conference organized by Al-Zaytouna Centre based in Lebanon.

Abu Marzouk also said that the Intifada has “undermined Israeli plans to partition Al-Aqsa Mosque”.

Regarding internal reconciliation, he said: “There are political conditions to achieve the reconciliation; the main is lifting external pressure being put on the Palestinian conflict.”

Abu Marzouk said: “The decision of reconciliation is owned by Mahmoud Abbas [PA President], who is supposed to be a president for all Palestinians.”

Meanwhile, Mohamed Ishtea, member of Fatah Executive Committee, recognized that Palestinians in the West Bank are facing difficult economic issues, but he denied this was the cause of the recent uprising.

The senior leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Maher al-Taher said: “The year 2015 was full of internal contradictions and loss of vision at all levels.”

He criticized the Oslo Accords, saying they undermined the Palestinian cause and also warned of depending on certain external initiatives.

(MEMO)