BICOM

A Hamas official told the Ma’an news Agency yesterday that the Palestinian Authority’s statehood bid at the United Nations was not coordinated with Hamas, and that Palestinians in Gaza have nothing to do with the statehood efforts. Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zaha said, “If the Palestinian Authority calls for that, we will oppose it because they detain people in the West Bank. How can I give them the right to demonstrate in Gaza, while they do not give us that right in the West Bank?”

Several Palestinian factions have come out in support of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ bid at the UN. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and The Palestinian National Initiative said that it was the last chance for the Palestinians to reach statehood after the failure of peace talks.

In related news, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, France are leading efforts in Europe to get the 27-member European Union to vote as one bloc in support of the Palestinian cause in September. Israeli diplomats hold little hope that the Palestinian statehood effort will not pass in the UN General Assembly. After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Wasterwelle yesterday, an Israeli official said that the chances are slim of getting the Palestinians to pull back and reach some sort of diplomatic solution. Netanyahu will meet with EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton today to discuss the issue further.

Meanwhile, the Russian ambassador to the UN said yesterday that Moscow would support the Palestinian bid for statehood.

Fore more information see BICOM’s spotlight section on the UN vote on Palestinian statehood