Palestinian government in Gaza opposes military strike on Syria

The Palestinian government in Gaza denied on Thursday any support for military interference in Syria, asserting that it does not interfere in any country’s internal affairs, even if it opposes regimes that carry out bloody crackdowns on its people.

In an exceptional meeting of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said: “We refuse the military interference in Syria because it is generally connected to all the developments in the region, and it has consequences on the Palestinian scene.”

He reiterated that he refuses any military interference in the internal affairs of any Arab or Muslim country. “This is our steadfast policy,” he said. At the same time, he added: “We deny that any regime deals bloodily with its people.”

Haniyeh said that Gaza has been exposed to an “unprecedented misinformation campaign” in an attempt to weaken the resistance. However he confirmed that, “Gaza will never breakdown. Gaza does not kneel down except in the prayers for Allah.”

He added: “All attempts to drag the Gaza Strip into side battles failed and we affirm that we are not going to go away from our main battle with the occupation. We do not lead our nation to fight Egypt or any other Arab country.”

On Jerusalem, Haniyeh asserted that Palestinians would not allow for Israel to Judaise the city. “The latest developments in the region will not divert our attention, especially in Gaza, from the holy city and the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister revealed that Amnesty International sent a letter to the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership about a week ago. The international organisation, Haniyeh said, asked the PA to appeal to international organisations and the ICC regarding the Israeli massacres committed during the last war on Gaza in 2012.

Haniyeh stressed that the PA must not yield to American pressure, and urged the PA to respond to that letter and go ahead in prosecuting the Israeli occupation for its “genocides and war crimes.”

He also called for the PA to ignore US pressure against the reconciliation talks that aim to put an end to internal Palestinian divisions.