A top Hamas official harshly criticized the organization’s recent reconciliation agreement with Fatah on Saturday, saying the agreement was signed without consulting the Hamas leadership in Gaza or abroad.

Mahmoud A-Zahar, a Hamas official based in the Gaza Strip, criticized the Doha Agreement, which was signed by Hamas’ Khaled Meshal and Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas last week, for appointing Abbas to lead a unity cabinet between the two parties.

In an interview with al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, A-Zahar criticized the agreement, saying appointment of Abbas is “a wrong and unacceptable move on a strategic level.”

According to A-Zahar, consultations will take place among Hamas leaders abroad and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in order to determine the organization’s official stance regarding the agreement.

The news comes nearly a week after the agreement was signed, in a move that could pave for a long-sought-after reconciliation between the rival factions.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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