Ismail Haniya, the Hamas prime minister of Gaza, who is making his first official trip abroad since his Islamist movement took over the Palestinian strip in 2007, sought Monday to strengthen ties with the Arab and Muslim world in the wake of regional uprisings that have produced a rise in Islamist political strength.
Turkey, ruled by the Islamic-based Justice and Development Party, has grown close to Hamas and has downgraded its relations with Israel. In 2010, a group of ships and boats sailed from Turkey in an effort to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza, and Israeli commandos boarded the vessels to stop them. When they met with resistance, the commandos killed nine activists on board. Turkey has demanded an apology and compensation; Israel has refused.
The meeting, organized in Amman, the Jordanian capital, by King Abdullah II of Jordan, is viewed as an effort to revive peace negotiations aimed at establishing a Palestinian state, but both Palestinian and Israeli officials were keeping expectations for the meeting low. Hamas opposes negotiations with Israel as a waste of time, and it urged the Palestinian Authority not to attend.
Hamas has long maintained its political headquarters in Syria
