The head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) abroad, Khaled Meshaal, said that the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle changed many elements of the regional and international scenes and within the Israeli “entity,” and it is absolutely not right for its impact to be absent from the arrangements of the Palestinian house, which must begin now and not wait for the end of the battle. “This is something we do not beg for or wait for, but rather we will storm it and it will be imposed as a fait accompli, whether those who want it want it or not.”
Meshaal added – in a symposium organized by the Zaytouna Center for Studies and Consultations via Zoom yesterday, Wednesday – that the Palestinian house must be arranged in a consensual manner in which the entire Palestinian spectrum participates without excluding any party, in order to prepare for the post-aggression phase on the Gaza Strip, and we will not allow any vacuum in the Strip, Hamas cannot be excluded in any way.
On October 7, 2023, the Hamas movement launched “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” against Israel, which included a land, sea and air attack and the infiltration of resistance members into several settlements in the Gaza envelope, but the Israeli occupation army responded to this with an aggression that continued for about 9 months, killing hundreds. Thousands of Palestinians are martyred, injured and displaced.
The impact of the maximum flood
At the symposium, the head of the Hamas movement abroad presented a paper entitled “The Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood and its Repercussions on the Palestinian House,” in which he spoke about the position of “the seventh of October” in the liberation march must be distinguished from several angles:
- It is a real and influential shift in the process of liberating the Palestinian land, and “represents an important and historical turning point that put our feet on the path to liberation.”
- It changed all the elements of the scene that had been stable and still for all the parties influencing the Palestinian issue.
- The Israeli entity was struck by an earthquake that scattered all the cards in its hand.
- It caused a positive shock in the global excitement towards the resistance and its continuity in confronting Israel throughout this period.
As for the effects of the Al-Aqsa Flood attack, Khaled Meshal said that it “includes many details, and it is not necessary to go into all of them,” but the most important thing caused by the Al-Aqsa Flood attack can be summarized as follows:
- The flood brought about major changes in the Palestinian issue. We thought it had died, but it has returned to the forefront of the scene. Such as international recognitions and solidarity movements, and the Palestinian issue has gained electoral weight in many countries.
- The flood confused all of the “enemy’s” calculations in terms of political differences between its movements and parties, damaged its international relations and image before the world, and shook the image of power it had exported in its geographical surroundings, in addition to economic deterioration and security weakness.
- The flood fueled religious differences that ultimately led to the recruitment of Haredi Jews as a result of the army’s need for them in battles, and this was a precedent in Israel.
- The flood created major popular impacts in the region, and countries’ positions varied in dealing with the flood, between reacting and waiting for the results.
- The flood showed the extent of the differences between politicians and the military in Israel, because the confrontations are what reveal the size of the differences and their growth within the entity, but the weakness of the Arabs and Palestinians does not reveal these crises.
Arranging the Palestinian house
The issue of arranging the Palestinian house, institutions and leadership took up a large space in the speech of the head of the Hamas movement abroad, as he believes that carrying out this work has become a necessity and a duty, especially after the Al-Aqsa flood.
Meshaal added that no one can confiscate the Palestinian decision, and it is not possible to wait for the outcome of the battle and the end of the war until the Palestinian institutions are rearranged, because the outlook has changed, and “after they were searching for what comes after Hamas, they are now negotiating with it and waiting for its response” to the initiatives.
He also pointed out the necessity of engaging in the battle against Israel, and for everyone to be partners in it, “because that makes us achieve better results, reflects positively on the Palestinian issue, and we win together in the entire region, not the Palestinian factions alone.”
7 points
Meshaal explained his vision of the foundations that can be relied upon to rebuild Palestinian institutions and put the entire Palestinian house in order, summarizing them in 7 points:
- First – Post-Oslo: As we have already entered the post-Oslo Accords phase with the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood, which changed many of the rules, as well as the behavior of the Israeli government, which is working to impose a new reality on Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and this should not be a subject of Palestinian disagreement.
- Second – Resistance strategy: Betting on liberation and completing the path of resistance because it is what creates the political foundation, and all factions, entities and geography should participate in it, and all obstacles that prevent everyone’s participation should be solved.
- Third: Editing costs: Liberation in all the world requires paying prices, and the resistance pays the price but achieves achievements, while the political settlement pays prices and losses without achieving any achievement.
- Fourth – The national project: It is important to restore respect to the national project, its goals, strategy, political and security means, and the leadership based on it, without one faction monopolizing it over another or being unique in it.
- Fifth – The position on the state: We must focus on the state as a real entity and not a symbol in the air or a feeling and illusion. We must know how to achieve the concept of the state to be a reality on the ground, and this is done through resistance and with our own hands and we ask the world to help us.
- Sixth: Building institutions and references: After the flood, the faltering construction of Palestinian institutions and structures cannot be tolerated, “because whoever holds the keys to them will not allow them to be built, and this is no longer acceptable.”
- Seventh – Construction mechanisms: In order for this stage to take place, you will need “elections, consensus, and legitimacy,” which are important foundations for overcoming the transitional stage so that all partners win without anyone being alone in it.
At the conclusion of his intervention at the symposium, the head of the Hamas movement abroad said that the priority of the consensus government must include sheltering people after the flood battle and healing their wounds, and that arranging the Palestinian home is everyone’s responsibility, and no one can do that alone.
He added, “Hamas is ready and trusts its partners and does not want to exclude anyone. If some people bet on breaking it, then they are delusional. Whoever abandons the resistance in order to open the doors of politics for him, what will he gain?”
