Palestinians demand 'right to resist' clause in pact

Hamas along with the Damascus-based Palestinian resistance groups have rejected the Egyptian proposal for a unity deal unless it mentions the right of Palestinians to resist Israeli occupation.

"The Egyptian reconciliation proposal lacks a political vision concerning the conflict (with Israel) and the aggression against our people," said the spokesman for Palestinian groups based in Damascus, Khaled Abdel Majid, quoted by AFP on Thursday.

"The Palestinian factions will not sign the accord... unless the text includes the principles and the rights of Palestinians, especially that of resisting the Zionist occupation," he went on to say. "We urge all Palestinian groups and national personalities to act rapidly and take the measures necessary to preserve the Palestinian cause from the dangers that threaten it, and to insist on the historic rights of our people."

Khaled Abdel Majid also noted that the deal proposed by Egypt should also address the dangers of 'Judaization' and 'permanent aggression,' which threaten al-Quds (Jerusalem), as well as the right of return for the Palestinian refugees.

Hamas and Fatah have long been wrangling with each other over substantial discords that have led do real bottlenecks in mending fences and repairing the internal Palestinian divisions. Meanwhile, Egypt has been struggling for months to get rival Palestinian factions to sign a reconciliation deal. The latest Cairo proposal aims to lay the groundwork for new presidential and legislative elections next summer.

Ever since Hamas won an outright majority in 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, the two factions have pursued bitter rivalry featuring sporadic fighting and tit-for-tat arrests. Mutual hostilities boiled over in the summer of 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Fatah faction.

Since then, Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip, while Fatah has continued to control the West Bank from Ramallah. Further complicating the situation, Israel and Egypt, with the blessing of the Palestinian Authority, have both sealed their borders with the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting off the coastal enclave from the rest of the world.