By Xinhua
Gaza : The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Thursday accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of blocking the opening of Rafah crossing.
Hamas said Abbas’ insistence not to reopen the crossing point with Egypt without European Union (EU) monitors reflects Israeli orders.
Abbas’ condition that an international agreement on Rafah crossing must be reactivated was “a translation and reflection of what Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had dictated for him (Abbas),” said Salah al-Bardaweel, a spokesman for Hamas lawmakers.
“This also proves our claims that Abbas, in cooperation with the Zionist occupation, is responsible for the siege on the Palestinian people,” al-Bardaweel added.
Abbas and a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to hold separate talks with the Egyptian leaders on reopening Rafah crossing which has been closed since last June when Hamas took over Gaza Strip by force.
Abbas, like Egypt, wants the crossing to rework according to the U.S.-brokered 2005 deal which stipulates the presence of EU monitors as a third party on the passage. Hamas rejects the request, saying that the deal has expired and demanding only Palestinians and Egyptians on the terminal.
For Hamas, Abbas went to Cairo “to foil any effort to end the crossing’s crisis,” said al-Bardaweel, adding that he works on “humiliating the Palestinians by insisting on the debasing deals.”