Joint List’s Odeh backs Hamas-Fatah harmony after outcry

Joint List leader Ayman Odeh gives full throated-backing to Palestinian reconciliation efforts, following an outcry from Likud lawmakers over his participation in a Ramallah meeting of Fatah and Hamas officials.

At the meeting, senior figures from the rival Palestinian factions agreed to work together against annexation plans.

“Reconciliation between the factions is a necessary step in the battle against annexation, ending the occupation and delivering a just peace,” he says in a statement sent out by a spokesperson. “Continuing divisions serve only those who want the continuation of the occupation and the establishment of apartheid. Anyone supporting a two-state solution needs to support reconciliation.”

While Israeli lawmakers regularly visit Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority officials, contacts with the Hamas terror group are considered beyond the pale by many Israelis.