Hamas rejects concessions to Israel in peace talks

The Hamas authority which controls the Gaza Strip, warned on Sunday against a "U.S.-enforced solution based on Palestinian concessions to Israel in ongoing peace talks. " "We warn against a new Oslo and we express our fear that the worst is yet to come," said Taher al-Nounou, a Hamas spokesperson, referring to the 1993 agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which paved the way for the creation of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). In general, Hamas, the Islamic militant group, opposes negotiations with Israel. It has repeatedly voiced rejection to the current talks, which Washington brokered between Israel and the Palestinian government in July. In 2007, Hamas took over Gaza after routing forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and ousted his Fatah party. Since then, the PNA's rule has been confined to the West Bank. Nounou denounced the secrecy engulfing the negotiations, saying that as long as leaders of Palestinian factions are not briefed on the process of negotiations, "it indicates that there are huge concessions that the factions do not accept." After months of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who sponsors the talks, put forward a framework deal that outlines the final issues the two sides should talk about when the current discussions end in April. The Palestinians have raised several reservations on Kerry's plan.