Hamas leader calls for Palestinian democracy

June 30 (UPI) -- Husam Badran, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, has called for a national consensus democracy to take root in a unified Palestine as he encouraged armed Palestinians in the West Bank to resist Israeli occupation.

Badran, speaking to Qudsna TV on Saturday , said Hamas envisions a Palestine uniting Gaza and the West Bank, as well as East Jerusalem, under one government in which all Palestinian factions can take part in governance.

The comments were seemingly made to reject Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's call for the destruction of Hamas to end Israel's brutal war in Gaza. Israel has said it will only accept a ceasefire if Hamas no longer runs Gaza.

"Nothing can be arranged in the Palestinian arena without Hamas being present and having influence," Badran said. "International and regional parties realize that eliminating Hamas is not possible. All attempts to pressure Hamas to extract concessions from it have failed, and political games and negotiations will not succeed in that either."

In his remarks, Badran criticized Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas -- the head of the partially self-governing body in the West Bank -- for rejecting and disrupting proposals to form a consensus government and for "allowing" the weakening of resistance to Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Abbas is also often referred to as Abu Mazen .

"The head of the Authority, Abu Mazen, is the one who rejects and disrupts the proposal to form a consensus government and went to form a government unilaterally without consulting anyone," Badran said. "Our Palestinian people will not stand in a waiting line until the Authority changes its position."

Badran said Hamas doesn't have a problem with Fatah , the main party in Abbas' Palestinian Authority government. Like Hamas, Fatah advocates for an independent Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

But Badran criticized the Palestinian Authority's intransigent position to form a consensus government with Hamas and other resistance factions in Gaza like Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front. And he said the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority is "incapable of performing its duties in the West Bank, let alone its ability to perform any role in Gaza."

"There are also protests within Fatah's ranks against Abbas's handling of the national issue and obstructing efforts to reach comprehensive national reconciliation," Badran said.

The Palestinian liberation movement does not just belong to Fatah, or any individual group or person, Badran said, asserting that no other government or group has the right to impose conditions on Hamas being part of a united Palestinian government.