PA minister: No ‘miracles’ expected at Moscow talks with Hamas on unified government

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki says he does not expect “miracles” at talks in Moscow to discuss the formation of a unified Palestinian government and the rebuilding of Gaza.

The talks between representatives of Hamas and the Fatah political faction, scheduled to take place in the Russian capital tomorrow, come days after PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh resigned along with the rest of the cabinet he heads.

The shake-up, Maliki says, was designed to build support for an expanded role for the PA following Israel’s war against the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza. Maliki and the rest of the outgoing ministers are remaining in their posts until a new cabinet is appointed.

“We hope that there we might be good results in terms of mutual understanding between all factions about the need to support such a technocratic government that will emerge,” Maliki says of the talks.

“Of course, we don’t expect miracles to happen in just a simple meeting in Moscow, but I believe that the meeting in Moscow should be followed by other meetings in the region soon.”

Maliki, who is speaking on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, says the government’s resignation had been designed to prevent international partners from saying the Authority was not cooperating with calls for it to reform.

“We want to show our readiness… to engage and to be ready, just to not to be seen as an obstacle between the implementation of any process that should take further,” he says.

Maliki also accused the United Nations Security Council of “failing” the Palestinian people in its inability to agree on a ceasefire resolution, echoing comments by UN chief Antonio Guterres who said the body’s authority had “perhaps fatally” been undermined by its lack of unity on the issue.

“Now in Gaza, it seems that the ceasefire is a farfetched objective to be attained,” Maliki says. “As a result, we see people dying.”