Why Hamas, Islamic Jihad refused to join PLO central meeting?

The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian Islamic movement, said on Saturday they would not attend a Central Council meeting of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

The PLO Central Council will meet Sunday in the occupied West Bank with an aim to debate responses to the controversial U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The two Islamic movements have pointed that “the conditions under which the committee will be held will prevent decisions that reach the level of Palestinians’ aspirations.”

Hamas and Islamic Jihad were invited to attend the council meeting despite not being part of the PLO, however, Hamas refused the invitation only one day ahead of the meeting, raising questions about why the refusal announcement was not made earlier and whether it received an order from abroad not to accept the invitation.

Last October, Palestinian political parties Fatah and Hamas struck a reconciliation deal in Cairo as they agreed on enabling a unity government headed by Rami al-Hamdallah to assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip, a step that was agreed to be followed by holding parliamentary elections and dialogue sessions.

Observes have expressed concerns that some countries in the region that Hamas is involved with may pressure it into foiling the reconciliation that Egypt has been brokering and seeking to remove any obstacles that may hinder it.

“We have concluded that the current circumstances will not enable the Council to make a comprehensive and responsible political review,” Hamas spokesperson Hossam Badran said in a Saturday statement. “Therefore, we have decided not to attend the meeting of the PLO Central Council in Ramallah.”

Muhammad al-Hindi, a member of the Islamic Jihad’s political bureau, said the movement refused to patriciate in the Central Council meeting “because its outcomes would not be able to breach the political boundaries of the PLO, which still holds hopes on negotiations and the Oslo Agreement and deems some practices such as security coordination as a solution.”

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been demanding the Palestinian government, represented by Fatah, to withdraw from the Oslo Agreement and halt security coordination with Israel since Trump announced the relocation of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The movements made the demands without providing solutions to what comes after the demands are met.

“All the positive PLO’s statements we heard during the past days after Trump’s announcement about Jerusalem did not come into action, like if they were worthless false talks,” Al-Hindi added. “These statements should have been based on decisions like halting negotiations and security coordination, withdrawing the recognition of Israel as a state and accomplishing the national reconciliation, but we got struck by the announcement of a central meeting in Ramallah.”

The Central Council, according to senior officials, will include the discussion of a possible halt to the recognition of Israel as a state, which dates back to 1988.

The 121-member council will gather for two days in Ramallah as tensions plagued the U.S.-Israeli relationship since Trump’s decision, while the final calling remains in the hands of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

For his part, Fatah leader Jihad al-Harazeen said Hamas’ refusal of participating in the Central Council meeting means it will not have a hand in the Palestinian decision making during such circumstances that the Palestinian case is going through.

Al-Harazeen asserted that there must be a united Palestinian stand to be able to face Trump’s decision and other occupation decisions.

The Fatah leader said refusing to attend the meeting for holding it in Ramallah is an “unacceptable justification” by Hamas’ leaders because they practice their duties in the West Bank normally, while some Hamas’ members of the legislative council and leaders are in the West Bank.

He also stressed the importance of holding sessions of the Central Council in the West Bank to reassure the Palestinian identity by allowing its authorities to carry out their duties inside the homeland to “embody a state of sovereignty”.

Al-Harazeen added invitations were handed out to all the embassies and consulates in Ramallah and Jerusalem to attend the opening session, deeming Hamas’ abstention as “evasion of national responsibility” in the light of many challenges that require confrontation. “Didn’t Hamas participate in the legislative election in the West Bank before?” he wondered.