Khalil al-Hayya the deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas in Gaza said that the Palestinian issue is in danger of liquidation.
The Arab Nation is racing to win the satisfaction of Israel instead of supporting the Palestinian people and cause he added pointing out that the Cairo dialogue between Palestinian factions which will start in a few days will discuss major issues.
Al-Hayya was a guest at a meeting held by the Hamas political committee in Al-Buraij refugee camp on the latest developments of the national reconciliation which was held at Al-Safa Mosque on Thursday and was attended by hundreds of citizens.
He added “The Palestinian issue is at risk and the settlements are taking more Palestinian lands and the enemy is adamant on certain positions: No to the removal of settlements no to having defined borders in the Jordan Valley no to withdrawal from Occupied Jerusalem no to the return of refugees to their homes”.
He said “The honorable resistance exposed the Arab regimes that claimed to support our cause for decades. Our people are now besieged because they say no and today there should be a way out and to protect the resistance and improve the situation of our people.”
Historical mistake
He described the Oslo agreement as a historical mistake that was more harmful than the Balfour Declaration because it gave the occupation the right to exist on 78% of historical Palestine and to negotiate establishing a Palestinian state on the remaining 22% while describing the resistance as “violence” which caused an internal Palestinian rift.
He underlined “Hamas has disagreed with the PLO and Fatah before but most importantly following the Oslo Accords yet the 2007 division further weakened the Palestinians to the extent that the USA following the election of president Donald Trump is calling for a regional peace deal that would include strengthening the relations between Arab countries and Israel.”
Al-Hayya highlighted Hamas’s justifications behind going for a national reconciliation saying that reconciliation is the shortest way to confront the occupation although the political visions of Hamas and Fatah are different.
He added “Now the danger is increasing we decided to take a major step and we went for reconciliation to protect our people; the occupation can’t be confronted while we are still divided.”
Hamas and Fatah
Al-Hayya stressed that the Hamas and Fatah movements need reconciliation but the Palestinian Authority President Abbas needs it more because he speaks before the world as a representative of all the Palestinians and while division is still in place he seems weak in front of the world.
He added “For reconciliation to succeed everyone should feel that it is important and embrace it. Hamas and Fatah should have a genuine desire for reconciliation and willingness to move forward.”
He called for the spirit of consensus to prevail during the current transitional phase and for the homeland to be the important priority for all parties not the party stressing that Hamas is still accumulating positive points in this reconciliation starting from the handover of the government crossings and ministries and by dismantling the Administrative Committee.
The Rafah crossing
Speaking of the Rafah crossing he said: “We agreed in Beirut two years ago to reject the Rafah crossing agreement of 2005. This is written in minutes attended by Fatah leaders Hussein Sheikh and Majid Faraj and Azzam Al-Ahmad.”
He continued “The period of the agreement of the Rafah crossing of 2005 was 12 months and it has ended. Today we want to have a crossing serving the Palestinians and Egyptians according to international standards. Hamas is ready for any form that does not contradict with the national constants and resistance.”
The Cairo dialogue
Al-Hayya spoke of the upcoming Cairo dialogue which will be held in a few days and will include all Palestinian factions. He pointed out that the meetings will discuss the major issues most notably the PLO and the Palestinian National Council elections.
He added “We are not afraid of elections and our resistance project will exist as long as the occupation exists and the weapons of resistance are out of negotiations and the issue of Gaza employees is a national issue that must be resolved.”
He called for continuing working on the issue of community reconciliation pointing to the need to work on the issue of public freedoms in the occupied West Bank as well.
