An aide has announced that the Gaza prime minister is planning his first official trip outside of Palestinian territory since the militant Hamas movement overran it in June 2007 Today`s Zaman reported
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's political adviser, Yusef Rizka, says the Gazan leader will travel in the near future to Turkey, Bahrain, Qatar and Tunisia. He indicated the four nations all invited Haniyeh to visit. No date has been set.
"Haniyeh will be discussing with the leaders of these countries the situation in Palestine, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the drive by the Palestinians to obtain the United Nations membership," the advisor said.
"He will also review the political reconciliation and partnership, reconstruction in Gaza and ways to address unemployment among Palestinian youth," he said, quoted by a Palestinian news portal.
Haniyeh has not left Gaza since the Hamas takeover due to tensions with neighboring Egypt, fighting with Israel and domestic issues. Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel and the West because of its bloody attacks against Israelis, and its Gazan regime is not internationally recognized.