Hamas rejects Netanyahu's proposal to send international forces to Gaza

GAZA - Islamic Hamas movement rejected on Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to send international forces to the Gaza Strip, the coastal enclave that Hamas has been ruling since 2007.

Abdulatif al-Qanou, Hamas spokesman in Gaza said in an emailed press statement that sending international forces to the Gaza Strip "is a dangerous matter and it is totally rejected."

Earlier Sunday, the Israeli media reported that Netanyahu made the proposal in a meeting he held with the Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu suggested that the Israeli Army must take control of the West Bank, and, to examine security alternatives in Gaza, having international forces monitor the territory "and deal with the terrorism issues."

Hamas warned that any foreign power or international forces sent to the Gaza Strip "will be treated as an occupation force," adding that "Hamas would never accept another new occupation."

The movement seized control of the coastal enclave in 2007 following weeks of internal fighting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas security forces and his Fatah Party. Division between the two rivals are not over yet.

Al-Qanou said that the idea of sending international forces to the Gaza Strip "is a severe interference into the internal affairs of the enclave," adding "we will forcibly confront it with all out powers whatever the price is."

He stressed that the Palestinian "armed resistance will protect Gaza, which is the cornerstone of resistance and the gate that will lead us to the liberation of the entire occupied Palestinian territories from the Israeli occupation."