Top > World > 2006 > February > 2006-02-24

Hamas in the Spotlight

On Sunday, Israel`s cabinet froze tax and customs payments that it collects on behalf of the now Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority, drawing a rebuke Monday from the U.N.`s Middle East envoy even as the world still searched for a more viable method to bring the terrorist group over to the unlikely acceptance of the Oslo Accords, the Road Map to peace, and Israel`s right to exist.

And on Monday, Iran`s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslim nations Monday to fund the Palestinian government, praising the radical Islamic group for ignoring international pressure to recognize Israel and respect international agreements. Israel and Western donors are moving to isolate the Palestinian Authority financially as Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, begins work to form the next cabinet.

"The only way to succeed is to continue resistance against the occupier regime," Khamenei told Khaled Mashal, leader of Hamas`s political wing, during his visit to Tehran. The Palestinians "knew that their vote for Hamas meant the fight against the Zionist occupier regime," he said. The United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, a group of Middle East peace interlocutors known as the so-called Quartet, had recommended last month that Israel delay freezing the funds until after Hamas forms the next cabinet.