The day after the Palestinian parliamentary elections, Hamas leader Mahmoud A-Zahhar is asserting that his movement will not change its covenant calling for the destruction of Israel, reports the Israeli online news portal Ynet.
A-Zahhar also said that, “The issue of weapons is related to the occupation. We will not receive dictations from Bush or anyone else… His words are not new, and were always against the Palestinians and their interests.”
Early Thursday morning, the day after the elections, the Palestinian government announced its resignation. Most ministers in Ahmad Qurei’s government were members of Fatah.
In his first reaction to the Palestinian elections, U.S. President George W. Bush told the Wall Street Journal that he would not negotiate with Hamas until the terror group renounces its desire to destroy Israel. Bush added that, “a political party must support peace, and must act peacefully.”