Oman under heavy criticisms by Palestinian groups, Iran, for hosting Israeli PM

Tabnak – In line with his recent efforts to normalize Tel Aviv’s relations with the Arab nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu made a surprise visit to Oman. Despite the attempts by the Omani officials to downgrade the importance of the visit, it has already faced with negative reactions from the Palestinian groups, as well as Iran.

In this vein, several Palestinian officials have denounced recent attempts to normalize relations between Tel Aviv and Arab countries following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rare visit to Oman.

The Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement blasted Oman for hosting “the head of Zionist crime," saying the trip accelerated "normalization with the Israeli entity" and was a "stab in the back" for Palestinians. It also warned that the visit would have “grave repercussions on the Palestinians and their just cause.”

The resistance group further called on Arab countries to maintain their policy of boycotting Israel and “isolating the Zionist entity, which poses a threat to Palestine and the entire region.”

Meanwhile, Mohammad Shtayyeh, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and member of the central committee of the Fatah movement, said the visit signaled the death of the Arab peace initiative, which was endorsed by the Arab League in 2002.

Separately on Saturday, Hassan Khreisheh, deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament, lamented an "unprecedented haste by Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel."

Senior Fatah official Munir al-Jaghoub warned that Netanyahu’s visit to Oman “eliminates the Arab peace initiative." According to him, “Fatah strongly condemns the gratuitous normalization with the occupation while Israel still doesn’t recognize the rights of the Palestinians and Arabs.”

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi says the Israeli regime is striving to create rifts among Muslim countries and cover up its 70-year-long occupation of Palestine and the massacre of Palestinian people.

While criticizing the Israeli PM's trip to Muscat, he said Muslim states, under pressure from the United States, should not allow Tel Aviv to create further trouble for the region.

The Israeli regime "is undoubtedly seeking to create rifts among Muslim countries and cover up 70 years of occupation, aggression and massacre of the oppressed Palestinian people," Qassemi stated.

Netanyahu along with a delegation, including Yossi Cohen, the director of the Mossad spy agency, and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, arrived in Muscat on Thursday night and flew back to the occupied Palestinian territories later on Friday, making it the first such meeting in over 20 years.

A joint statement by Netanyahu and Oman’s ruler Sultan Qaboos said the two sides “discussed ways to advance" the so-called Middle East peace process and “a number of issues of mutual interest to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.”