Head of Hamas’s political bureau Ismail Haneyya called for “setting a complete plan to topple the normalization which took the shape of military and security alliance with some Arab countries.”
Haneyya made the comments at the opening session of the 12th conference on Jerusalem entitled “The Vanguards of Jerusalem hold its Sword” in Istanbul on Thursday that saw the participation of 400 officials lawmakers and activists from 40 countries.
“Normalization will increase the weakness of these [Arab normalizing] governments and won’t increase the enemy’s strength” said Haneyya.
“We must not allow normalization to spread in the body of our Ummah.”
Haneyya further said there are “three important changes that surround us at the level of the [Palestinian] cause the region and the Ummah and I think they are present in this conference and we read them positively as important developments for our cause and our Ummah.”
The first is the outcomes of the “Jerusalem Sword operation” he said with reference to fighting between Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza with Israel in May this year. Gaza responded to calls to protect Jerusalem.
The second is represented in the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August which weakens the US’ allies in the region topped by Israel.
The third is the Istanbul conference because it confronts Israeli attempts to break Arab and Islamic nations.
Haneyya said based on the three changes there are three priorities for the Palestinian cause: To raise the status of Jerusalem and keep it at the forefront of the Palestinian cause. Second to support Palestinian resistance as a strategic option for the Palestinian cause. The third priority that Haneyya outlined is to down efforts of normalization with Israel.
Israel secured diplomatic ties with six Arab countries in 2020 after former US President Donald Trump’s administration brokered normalization deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates Bahrain Sudan and Morocco in addition to the existing ties with Egypt and Jordan.
