Will Hamas terrorists join PA security forces?

Hassan Yousef, a senior Hamas official based in Judea and Samaria, said Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces in Judea and Samaria should include activists from all the Palestinian organizations.

The meaning of the demand, which comes as Hamas and Fatah resume their reconciliation talks in Cairo, is that Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other terrorist organizations be integrated into the PA security forces.

In an interview with the Hamas-affiliated Al-Risala news website, Yousef said that the Palestinian security services must adopt an approach that serves the Palestinian people and opposes security coordination with Israel.

“It is impossible to talk about reconciliation when there is a hostile security policy that causes a deepening of the rift in Palestinian society, and the public does not feel the existence of reconciliation,” he said.

The issue of the security apparatuses and the military arms of the Palestinian organizations is a central issue in the reconciliation talks currently under way in Cairo.

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who heads Fatah, is demanding that all weapons and arms be held under the PA , while Hamas and Islamic Jihad strongly oppose imposing any restrictions on the terrorist organizations.