Hamas’s representative in Lebanon Ali Baraka on Monday asked the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) to withdraw its recognition of Israel declared in 1993 affirming that the Palestinian people will never give up Jerusalem and will continue to fight against the occupation.
During an interview with a Lebanese TV channel on Monday evening Baraka said that the US president Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a blatant aggression against the entire Arab and Muslim nation and a flagrant defiance of the UN Security Council resolutions.
The Hamas official called on the Palestinian leadership to abandon negotiations and expressed his hope that the PCC meeting to be held on Sunday will come up with pivotal decisions stressing the importance of revoking recognition of Israel ending security coordination reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization and establishing a new strategy that adopts the option of resistance against the occupation.
A PCC meeting is scheduled to be held on 14th January in Ramallah to discuss possible actions in response to the US Jerusalem move.
Baraka added that some Arab countries unfortunately support Trump’s plans to liquidate the Palestinian cause through the so-called “deal of the century” which involves relinquishing Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine replacing it with Ramallah or Abu Dis and dropping the Palestinian refugees’ right of return.
As for the UNRWA budget cuts Hamas’s representative stressed that UNRWA should continue its missions until the refugees’ right of return is secured according to the UN resolution (194) noting that Lebanon will be the most affected area by these cuts.
He urged the Arab countries hosting Palestinian refugees especially Lebanon to act urgently to financially support UNRWA and develop an Arab-Palestinian strategy to protect the refugees’ rights and confront mass resettlement projects.
