South Africa yesterday joined a growing list of countries inviting Hamas leaders for talks, raising Israeli concerns that the international front against the Islamic militants is crumbling.
Israel has been trying to isolate Hamas to counter the effect of its imminent rise to power in the Palestinian territories. Israel's efforts absorbed a blow when Russia invited Hamas leaders for talks.
A Hamas delegation will travel to Moscow today for high-level talks that could end its international isolation. Though Russia has insisted it will press Hamas to recognize Israel and renounce violence, the militant Palestinian group seems unlikely to heed such calls to soften its hostility to Israel.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was scheduled to receive Hamas' exiled political leader, Khaled Meshal, in what will be Hamas' highest-profile foreign visit.
‘Our trip to Moscow opens new prospects for peace in the Middle East,’ Meshal said in an interview with NTV television in Damascus, Syria. Hamas is based in Syria.
‘Our people want simple things: to be free and to have sovereignty. All this is impossible without an end to the occupation,’ said Meshal, who declined to comment on the question of recognizing Israel.
The Palestinian envoy to Russia, Bakir Abdel Munem, expressed hope that Hamas would reconsider its attitude toward Israel.
Public Hamas contacts with world governments have been limited since its election victory. The invitation to Moscow was followed by talks between Hamas and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and an invitation from Venezuela.
Also, Hamas leaders have been consulting the Iranian president, hoping for financial support to make up for the funds Israel is holding up, with the prospect of financial sanctions by the Western world looming when a Hamas Cabinet is sworn in.
While refusing to meet Hamas officials, the European Union decided to send $143 million in emergency aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.