8 hours agoUS warns Turkey against welcoming Hamas leaders
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)The United States has warned Turkey against welcoming Hamas' leadership, saying Washington does not believe leaders of a terrorist organisation must live in comfort. Hamas is the Palestinian group leading Gaza and the US is blacklisted. Asked about reports that some Hamas leaders are [...]
Hamas is the Palestinian group leading Gaza and the US is blacklisted.
Asked about reports that some Hamas leaders have moved from Qatar to Turkey, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has not confirmed the reports, but has said he is not even able to dismiss them.
He has said Washington will make clear to the Turkish government that it cannot have relations as it once did with Hamas.
Miller has said some Hamas leaders are indicted by American authorities, and Washington believes they must surrender to the United States.
We don't believe that the leaders of a terrorist organization should live comfortably somewhere, and that includes a large city of an ally”, Miller said before reporters.
A source of Turkish diplomacy has dismissed reports that Hamas has moved the political office to Turkey and that members of the group have visited this state from time to time.
Qatar has said last week that it has announced Hamas and Israel that it will suspend efforts to mediate a Gaza truce, and a hostage release agreement until both sides show seriousness for the resumption of talks.
Doha, also, has said media reports that he supposedly asked Hamas to leave this Arab Gulf state are not true.
The senators of Hamas' political bureau visit Turkey from time to time. The claims that Hamas' political bureau has moved to Turkey do not reflect the truth”, this diplomatic source has said.
Turkey, a NATO member, sharply criticises Israel for offensives launched at the Gaza and Lebanon Strip, and does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation.
Israel aims at the destruction of Hamas and fights it in Gaza from October last year.
War has been sparked by Hamas ' attacks on Israeli soil that same October, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 others hostage.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Meanwhile, Israel has begun offensive in southern Lebanon, with the goal of destroying Hezbollah's military capacities, a group that, like Hamas, enjoys the support of Iran, the enemy of Israel.
Some attempts to give the war have already failed and on occasion raised concerns about the possibility of escalation of conflict throughout the Middle East. / REL
