File photo
Photo: EPA
Palestinian National Council meeting faces more obstacles
109 Palestinian lawmakers from warring Hamas, Fatah factions, appeal to postpone scheduled Palestinian National Council meeting—first since 2009—citing exclusion of some representatives due to 'Israeli travel restrictions'; no delays to be expected, says PNC's secretary.
More than 100 members of the 700-seat Palestinian National Council (PNC) want to delay a rare session of the Palestinians' top decision-making body, saying on Sunday they were concerned some factions would be shut out.
The PNC is due to convene in the city of Ramallah on April 30 to discuss US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a policy change that has outraged the Palestinians.
In a letter obtained by Reuters to PNC Speaker Salim Zanoun, 109 legislators, including independents and delegates from Hamas and the mainstream Fatah faction, urged the session's postponement.
A past meeting between Hamas and Fatah chiefs. The Palestinian National Council has not convened since 2009 (Photo: EPA)
"In order to spare our Palestinian cause imminent dangers and out of our eagerness to achieve unity and end splits and division, we urge you to delay the PNC session," said the letter.
There was no immediate word from Zanoun whether he would agree to the request, which followed word from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Thursday that it would boycott the session because it wanted more factions to attend.
In Ramallah, Mohammad Sbeih, the PNC's secretary, declined to comment directly on the letter but told Reuters there will be no delays.
Signatories of the letter said additional time should be given for the implementation of a reconciliation deal that Fatah and Hamas, an Islamist terror group that advocates Israel's destruction, signed in October.
PNC Speaker Salim Zanoun was urged by Palestinian legislators to postpone the session (Photo: EPA)
The agreement has faltered over differences on power-sharing in the Gaza Strip, territory that Hamas seized from Fatah forces in a violent 2007 coup.
The PNC last met in extraordinary session in 2009 to replace several members of the PLO's Executive Committee. It last held a regular session in 1996.
Political analysts in Gaza said a PNC meeting without wide factional representation would weaken the legitimacy of any decisions it may take.
