Officials Give Conflicting Accounts of Hamas' Willingness to Discuss Two-State Concept
07 April 2006
Palestinian officials are giving conflicting accounts about the Hamas-led government's willingness to discuss the concept of a two-state solution with Israel.
That proposal fundamentally requires Palestinians to acknowledge Israel's right to exist.
In interviews with foreign media published Friday, officials, including Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar, said Hamas is willing to discuss the meaning of the two-state solution.
But, the Palestinian deputy prime minister, Naser al-Shaer, Friday, later told Reuters that Hamas was not considering the proposal, stressing that there was no change in Hamas' thinking about Israel's right to exist.
Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction.
In other developments, reports from the West Bank say Israeli troops shot a Palestinian man during a raid at a refugee camp near Nablus. The Israeli military says one militant was hit during the firefight and two Israeli soldiers were wounded. The extent of the injuries is not clear.
Separately, military officials say Israeli forces conducted three raids overnight. Warplanes damaged two offices of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Gaza City.
Palestinian sources say there were no casualties.
Israel accused Al-Aqsa of firing rockets at its towns and cities on Thursday.
The Israeli army says one of the rockets struck an Israeli factory near the town of Ashkelon and set it ablaze, injuring one Israeli. Another rocket hit in the town of Sderot but caused no injuries or damage.
Al-Aqsa is an armed wing of the Fatah Movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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