Hamas has denied that its Political Bureau Chief Khaled Meshaal called for a substitute for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which had sparked wide Palestinian criticism. Al-Jazeera quoted Mohamed Nazzal, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, as saying that Meshaal called for the establishment of a national framework of the forces that PLO has excluded, and that these would work independently from PLO. This coincided with a Hamas high-level delegation headed by Khaled Meshaal visiting Tehran yesterday to meet with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Meshaal will also deliver a speech before Tehran University and the Islamic Shura Council. It also coincided with President Hosni Mubarak reiterating that Egypt, from the premise of maintaining its national security, opposes any foreign presence on its territories under any pretext. He told Al-Shorta Magazine: “It was the Palestinian divide that caused the recent aggression on the Gaza Strip and inflicted pain in our hearts. It has also weakened the Palestinian cause.” Meanwhile, informed sources said that Hamas will today respond to the Egyptian proposals for a truce on February 5.
On another note, 17 Palestinian girls were yesterday injured as a result of a partial collapse of a UN school close to Al-Aqsa Mosque due to the Israeli excavations in Jerusalem to dig a tunnel under the school up to the Wailing Wall, according to Palestinian officials.
