The Palestinian Authority (PA) sent an official letter to the White House considering that all groups, including Hamas, were committed to establishing a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The letter was delivered by Hussein Al-Sheikh, PA’s head of the General Authority of Civil Affairs, to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s Deputy Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) and former Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas
(Photo: AP)
The provisions listed in the memorandum were approved at a meeting of the various Palestinian groups in September.
The letter also said that all groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, were committed to the standards of international law, that the PLO was the political shadow and the only legitimate representative for the Palestinian people and would be respected. the results of the Palestinian elections and that a subsequent peaceful transfer of power would take place if it could.
The memo also reaffirmed the groups’ continued commitment to a “popular peaceful struggle” for the establishment of the Palestinian state.
With parliamentary and primary elections set to take place on 22 May and 31 July respectively, more than 2.6 million Palestinians registered last week on the electoral rolls – more than 93% of eligible voters .
The memo confirms the assessment that the elections within the PA are intended to rebuild relations between Ramallah and the new U.S. administration.
On Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued an order ordering the imposition of all sanctions on freedom of expression ahead of the elections, banning pastimes and police arrest in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for “reasons related to freedom of expression and political affiliation,” “with prisoners held on release of such justification.
Hamas welcomed the order, allowing their movement to campaign in the West Bank.