Incoming Palestinian interior minister Saeed Seyam, chosen by Hamas to oversee three security services, said on Thursday he will not order the arrest of militants carrying out attacks against Israel.
"The day will never come when any Palestinian would be arrested because of his political affiliation or because of resisting the occupation," Seyam told Reuters in an interview. "The file of political detention must be closed."
Hamas, whose charter officially calls for Israel's destruction, swept to victory in a January 25 election and plans to present its cabinet line-up to a Hamas-dominated parliament for a vote next week.
The group has selected Hamas loyalists like Seyam to fill almost all of the 24-member cabinet after President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction and other moderate parties refused to join a coalition with Hamas.
Hamas's failure to convince rival factions to join the government could make it harder for it to rule and could cement US and Israeli efforts to isolate the group.
As well as vowing not to arrest militants for carrying out attacks against Israel, Seyam said Hamas would try to co-ordinate militants' operations.
"Talks with the factions in the future will focus on the mechanisms, the shape and the timing (of any attacks)," he said. "But the right to defend our people and to confront the aggression is granted and is legitimate."
Seyam said he had begun talks with Palestinian security chiefs in the hope of averting fighting within the security services. A majority of the 20,000-plus security personnel, who will answer to Seyam, are Fatah members.
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