Free Republic

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The coffers of the new Hamas government are empty, the Palestinian prime minister told his Cabinet Wednesday in the first public acknowledgment by the Islamic militants that they will have difficulty running the West Bank and Gaza without massive foreign aid. Ismail Haniyeh suggested the Palestinian Authority will find it hard to meet its monthly payroll of 140,000 employees — salaries that sustain about one-third of the Palestinians. He appealed to the Arab world for more aid, saying pledges of $55 million a month are insufficient. The prime minister spoke at the first meeting of...

JERUSALEM - Israel's defense minister warned Tuesday the incoming Hamas prime minister would be assassinated if the Islamic militant group resumes attacks, but the acting Israeli premier also pledged a drastic cut in spending on Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and others in his front-running Kadima Party delivered these messages just three weeks before the Israeli election. The centrist Kadima is trying to court both hardline and dovish voters, and has been sliding in the polls. Party officials have been more forthcoming recently about their post-election agenda, apparently in hopes of stemming the erosion...

Haniyeh: 'Washington Post' misquoted Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 26, 2006 Palestinian Authority Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday denied that Hamas was prepared to make peace with Israel, saying he had been misquoted by The Washington Post. Haniyeh said his comments had been misunderstood. He said he was not referring to a peace agreement, only a "political truce." "I didn't talk about recognizing Israel during the interview with the newspaper," Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza City. "I only said that when Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, including Jerusalem, and releases all the prisoners and detainees, then...

An interview with Hamas's new prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh: "Do you accept the Oslo agreement signed by Yasser Arafat? Israel has stopped completely committing itself to Oslo. ... So you will not abide by past agreements made by the Palestinians and Israel? I have not said that. I have said that Israel . . . But you are not the prime minister of Israel. Will you abide by past agreements made by the Palestinian governments and Israel? We will review all agreements and abide by those that are in the interest of the Palestinian people. What agreements will you honor?...

Sunday, February 19, 2006The Correct Response To Hamas One of CNN's world news headlines today reads: Israel PM rules out Hamas contacts. The implication is that this sort of Israeli action is a bad thing, a deterrent to some sort of illusive peace. Quite the contrary. Prime Minister Olmert correctly states: ...the Palestinian Authority is, in effect, becoming a terrorist authority. Israel will not agree to that. Israel will not compromise with terror and will continue to fight it with all its might. However, we have no intention of harming the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian population. Israel will not...

Gaza Strip -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appointed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as the next prime minister, the Palestinian news agency said Tuesday. The news agency released a picture of Abbas handing Haniyeh the official letter of appointment at the beginning of their meeting earlier in the day. Haniyeh, who will be the first Hamas premier, has five weeks to form a government. "Palestinian" Arab leader Mahmud Abbas (R) hands over an official nomination document to Islamic terrorist Hamas' Ismail Haniya, the new Prime Minister, for the formation of his new government in Gaza City. Abbas formally tasked Haniya with...