Saturday, May 31, 2014

Palestinian Unity Govt. Will Be Sworn In June 2; Israel Won't Recognize It Due to Hamas Inclusion

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said today (May 31, 2014) that a coalition government to be formed by his Fatah party and its rival, the militant group Hamas, will be sworn in Monday, June 2, 2014, according to the LA Times website.

The new government will adopt his political program, Abbas said, which includes recognition of Israel and renunciation of terrorism. Nonetheless, Israel has informed him it will not recognize the new government and will impose sanctions against it because of the inclusion of Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist group.

An Israeli official said today that it was too early to say whether the government is going to impose punitive measures against the Palestinians.

But Abbas told pro-Palestinian French activists at his Ramallah office today that the decision for a Palestinian unity government had already been made. "Israel has informed us that it is going to impose sanctions against us when the national conciliation government is declared on Monday," he said. Abbas added, "For every Israeli measure, there is going to be an appropriate Palestinian response."

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