GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian factions were reluctant to accept a call by the Hamas-led Gaza government to participate in administering the Gaza Strip. The call was issued by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh during a speech he gave at the opening of the National Program for the Performance Indicators of Charities and Civic Bodies in Gaza City on Wednesday, Aug. 21.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) initially welcomed this invitation; it soon amended its stance by adding that the “invitation required a political framework,” which government spokesman Ihab al-Ghossein described to Al-Monitor as “backtracking on its position.”