The Hamas-backed government in the Gaza Strip on Monday denied President Mahmoud Abbas’ allegations that the government did not support the Goldstone report on war crimes.
Government spokesperson Taher An-Nunu said in a statement, “Goldstone met with the government and its ministers more than once, and he also met with the Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, which led him to praise our government in his report clearly, openly and in public.”
After coming under immense public pressure to reverse a decision to delay international action on the report, Abbas and his aides have gone on the offensive against Hamas for what they say is a hypocritical stance. In a speech on Sunday night, Abbas accused Hamas of using the report as an excuse not to sign a unity deal.
“If Mr. Abu Mazen [Abbas] did not read the report, he should have been told about this truth. He went on with his claims about our condemnation of the report even though the prime minister himself [Haniyeh] approved on the report with a few comments on it,” An-Nunu continued.
“The prime minister also called the secretary-general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, after the issuance of the report and on the eve of its presentation to the UN Human Rights council, demanding that he adopt the report and to submit it to the Security Council,” added An-Nunu.
Hamas authorities allowed Goldstone’s team to operate in Gaza, while Israel refused to recognize the investigation.
In a speech in Gaza on 20 September Haniyeh threw his support behind the report. “We hope the report … will not be doomed to the fate of the dozens of reports that Israel has condemned for decades,” he told thousands of worshipers at a prayer service in Yarmouk Stadium.
An-Nunu continued saying that “President Abbas’ talk about the ‘Emirate of Darkness’ and the ‘black coup’ do not suggest that he is ready for reconciliation and its requirements. These are accusatory words that will create grudges.”
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