UNRWA apologizes for giving Kerry letter from Hamas
Letter passed to senator during his visit to Gaza, calling on Obama to launch direct dialogue with Palestinian organization, leads to discomfort in US. Now UN agency head says she 'deeply regrets any awkwardness' transmission may have caused
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency apologized to the American government on Thursday night after it was criticized for passing to US Senator John Kerry a letter from a Hamas representative calling on President Barack Obama to launch a direct dialogue with the Palestinian organization, British newspaper The Independent reported over the weekend.
The letter was passed to Kerry by Karen Koning AbuZayd, the agency head. According to the spokesman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, chaired by Kerry, the senator left Gaza without reading the letter because it was sandwiched among UN promotional papers he had received. He left the letter with the US consulate in Jerusalem.
Ten days after the incident, AbuZayd said she "deeply regrets any awkwardness" the transmission of the letter may have caused for the government, which has refused any direct contact with the Palestinian Islamist faction that rules Gaza.
Kerry did not meet with Hamas members during his visit to the Strip, and movement sources have denied the reports about the letter, despite the confirmation offered by the US State Department.
According to UNRWA, the letter was left by Hamas representatives outside the organization's offices in Gaza. However, the agency did not respond to the question why Kerry was unaware of the letter's content.
A Palestinian source said the letter was worded by Ahmed Yusuf, an advisor to Hamas' foreign ministry, and that he was acting on behalf of himself and not on behalf of the movement.
According to the New York Times, Hamas asked Obama in the letter to launch a direct dialogue with the Palestinian movement. This was the first such appeal to the US president since he took office on January 20.
The former American administration boycotted Hamas, and this policy appears to remain unchanged under Obama.
According to Yusuf, the letter's main message was that that "peace in the region is impossible without Hamas". He added, "We congratulated Obama for being elected president and reminded him that he must keep his promise to bring real change to the region. The Palestinian issue is the key to solving the problems of the entire region."
