Palestinian factions are set to meet with the Putin regime in Russia for unity talks as Israel rejects the possibility of Palestinian statehood after the war in Gaza concludes.
Palestinian Authority prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh urged the world to move on from the October 7th terrorist assault by Hamas on Israel and said Sunday the Russians invited Palestinian factions to meet on February 26th.
“Russia has invited all Palestinian factions who will be meeting on the twenty-sixth of this month in Moscow. We will see if Hamas is ready to come to the ground with us,” he told the Munich Security Conference.
“One should not continue focusing on October 7,” he added while denouncing Hamas’s civilian onslaught in Israel. National Review has reached out to the State Department for comment on the upcoming meeting with Russian officials.
Shtayyeh listed conditions for Hamas’s membership in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) such as accepting the PLO’s political agenda and two states based on 1967 borders.
On Sunday, Israel’s cabinet approved a formal declaration rejecting an international push for Palestinian statehood in a blow to the Biden administration.
“Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” the motion adds. “Such recognition in the wake of the October 7th massacre would be a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would foil any future peace settlement.”
Israeli officials unanimously approved the resolution as the Biden administration reportedly hopes to explore the recognition of a Palestinian state after the war in Gaza concludes.
“The best way to achieve an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza that provides lasting peace and security, for Israelis and Palestinian’s alike, is our strong commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state,” a State Department spokesperson told National Review of the push for Palestinian statehood.
“As such, the United States continues to support the two-state solution and to oppose policies that endanger its viability or contradict our mutual interests and values.”
A Hamas official acknowledged Monday 6,000 of its operatives have been killed since the war broke out four months ago, roughly half of Israel’s estimate of 12,000 operatives killed. He said Hamas is prepared for a long war in Gaza and claimed Netanyahu has not achieved his goals up to this point.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry estimates 28,985 Palestinians have been killed in the war, without making a distinction between Hamas operatives and civilian casualties. The death count in Gaza has not been independently verified.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month the war in Gaza will continue until Israel achieves “absolute victory” over the terrorist organization, which continues to hold dozens of civilian hostages.
Hamas leadership met with officials in Moscow only weeks after the war in Gaza broke out despite the deaths of 16 Russian nationals during Hamas’ rampage. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in January it hosted a Hamas delegation and urged they release the hostages.