Hamas' top leaders in Gaza and Syria, speaking to supporters Friday on the occasion of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, warned the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas against falling into the "trap" of an upcoming peace conference with Israel, and urged him to mend his rift with their faction. Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh criticized Abbas for planning to attend next month's US-sponsored international peace conference, meant to provide support for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. And he cautioned him not to "give this occupier legitimacy on our land."
"Don't fall into the trap of the coming conference. Don't make new compromises on Jerusalem, on our sovereignty," Haniyeh urged.
Haniyeh, who now heads the Hamas government in Gaza, told thousands of cheering supporters at the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City that Abbas could not negotiate without Hamas' support. "Don't go to conference when you don't have the power card in your pocket - and the power card is Hamas," Haniyeh told his supporters.
Exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal echoed the warning in a holiday message on Hamas radio. And he urged Abbas, who set up his own government in the West Bank after Hamas' Gaza takeover, to accept the Islamists' invitations for dialogue.