On Sunday, July 20th, the Palestinian Peace Coalition-Geneva Initiative held a one-day seminar to discuss “Alternatives and Solutions to End the Palestinian Internal Crisis.”

Speaking at the event were Dr. Ahmad Yousef , Advisor to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and Dr. Kamal Shrafi, Advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas. Both called for the immediate commencement of a Palestinian national dialogue and for the reconstruction of the Palestinian national strategy.

Yousef called on President Abbas to launch the starting step for a national dialogue "in any Arab capital; whether Cairo, Damascus, Doha or Gaza.”

The senior Hamas official said that the Palestinian public “is in state of shock for the delay of the national dialogue despite the call of President Abbas.”

He added that the Palestinian people stand on a historic crossroads. “We need to start the national dialogue to end the crisis and prevent the Israeli occupation from using the current situation as a pretext for its aggression,” he concluded.

Mr. Sharafi called for the resignation of PLC members and for early legislative and presidential elections to end the current crisis and help advance the national dialogue process.

“I call for formulating a new Palestinian strategy and to think about what we can achieve until the year 2020, taking in consideration all the changes on the national, regional, Israeli and international levels,” he stressed.