5/15/2024–|Last updated: 5/15/202411:34 PM (Mecca time)
The head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, said that the Israeli occupation’s insistence on moving forward with the Rafah process in the southern Gaza Strip places the entire negotiations in an unknown fate, stressing that the day after the war in the Strip will be decided by Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian factions.
Haniyeh stressed – during a speech he delivered on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba – that the occupation’s amendments to the latest proposal put the ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations in a dead end.
He stressed that Hamas responded positively to the efforts of the mediators in Egypt and Qatar to reach a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, pointing out that the occupation continues the war on Gaza and does not care about the fate of its prisoners.
He explained that the movement will continue its efforts to stop the aggression by all means, including a permanent ceasefire, the occupation’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, shelter and reconstruction, the lifting of the siege, and the conclusion of a prisoner exchange deal.
He pointed out that “the American position continues to side with the enemy and continues to provide political support and cover for the war of genocide against our people.”
He noted that Hamas will continue to work with the resistance factions to stop the war on Gaza, expressing his confidence “that the aggression will be defeated and withdrawn from our land, no matter how long it takes.”
“Multiple messages”
Regarding the prisoners in Israeli prisons, Haniyeh said, “The Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood will achieve freedom for them, God willing.”
He added that Hamas and its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, are here to stay, and that the day after the war and the management of the Strip “will be decided by the movement along with the rest of the Palestinian factions, based on the supreme interests of our people in Gaza.”
Regarding the recent developments in Rafah, Haniyeh stressed that Hamas agrees with Egypt on the need for the Israeli army to withdraw from the Rafah crossing immediately, stressing at the same time that it has “no right to interfere in the management of the crossing.”
The head of the Hamas political bureau touched on the occupation committing all kinds of atrocities and executions against the Palestinian people in places of secret detention and prisons.
Field developments
As for the developments in the field, Haniyeh said, “Our heroes are burying the occupier’s nose in the dirt and confirming that his disappearance from our land is a Qur’anic inevitability and a historical fact.”
He pointed out that the resistance on all front lines in Gaza expects the occupation to suffer losses for the eighth month of the war, despite the difference in the balance of power.
He stressed the need for close ranks with Gaza and the movement of the Palestinian people in all arenas and places of the diaspora, after dropping all malicious conspiracies and plans and remaining steadfast in every place.
Haniyeh pointed out that the issue of Palestine remains strongly present in the consciousness of our people, our nation, and the free people of the world, just as Gaza has become an icon for the world’s youth, overthrowing the Zionist narrative and revealing the bloody nature of the occupier, considering the movement of the world’s students in support of the Palestinian cause “an unprecedented scene in history.”
He added, “The lie of a land without a people for a people without a land, or the saying that the old die and the young forget, has ended forever.”
He continued, explaining, “The anniversary of the Nakba falls this year while our people are fighting the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood, which is the prelude to liberation and independence.”
Haniyeh warned that “settlers live in constant terror in the face of the heroic operations of our resistance in the West Bank.”
It should be noted that the term Nakba symbolizes the mass forced displacement in 1948 of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands when the Zionist movement – with the support of Britain – succeeded 76 years ago, in controlling by force of arms the largest part of Palestine and declaring the establishment of Israel.