Palestinian Islamists lashed out Tuesday at negotiations in the United States to reach a peace settlement with Israel and said holy war was the only way for Palestinians to win their rights.
"We consider the Camp David summit to be a new Zionist and American conspiracy which has the goal of squandering the rights of our people," the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, said in a statement.
Hamas, which opposes the 1993 peace accords and has slain Israelis, noted that Israel has said it will never give Jerusalem to the Palestinians, permit a state on all of the land occupied by Israel or allow Palestinian refugees to return to Israel.
Hamas called for Palestinian unity and an "escalation of popular opposition to the enemy and to burn the land under the occupier’s feet"
"We want the (Palestinian) Authority to know that our rights are not subject to negotiations," Hamas said.
The smaller Islamic Jihad group also condemned Tuesday's negotiations, which are being held between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak at the US presidential retreat, Camp David.
"The summit is in the Israeli interest and Israel and the United States will try to pressure the Palestinians and impose Israel's position on them," the group said in a statement -- GAZA CITY (AFP)
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