Haniyeh: Future of PA in doubt

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas questioned on Wednesday whether the Palestinian Authority can continue to function with key lawmakers and ministers in Israeli jails.

He raised the possibility of dissolving the Palestinian Authority, which was created under peace deals with Israel in 1994, for the first time since taking office.

"All political elites, the presidency, the factions and the government are invited to discuss the future of the Palestinian Authority following this (Israeli) attack," Haniyeh said, referring to Israel's arrest of parliament speaker Aziz Dweik of Hamas last week.

"Can the Palestinian Authority function under the occupation, kidnappings and assassination?" Haniyeh asked lawmakers in the West Bank via a video link from the Gaza Strip.

'Israel wants PA to be weak'

Asked later if he believed the Palestinian Authority should be dissolved, Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza that Israel's goal was to make the Palestinian Authority "weak, ineffective".

"They have raised the necessity to discuss the future of the authority," He said.

Haniyeh's suggestion drew support from some of Hamas political rivals.

"It's our right to question the benefit of the continuation of the Palestinian Authority," Said Salam Fayyad, an independent lawmaker and former finance minister. "The continuation of the Palestinian Authority will acquit Israel from it's responsibility as an occupying power."

Several top Fatah officials proposed in March that Abbas resign, dissolve the Palestinian Authority and return responsibility for the occupied territories to Israel in protest at unilateral Israeli moves.