Hamas: Everyone has the right to arm themselves to resist the occupation

Head of Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh has said that everyone has the right to own resistance arms, adding that that his movement has closed the chapter of internal division forever, Rassd.com reported yesterday.

During a TV interview with the Egyptian journalist Amro Adeeb, who arrived in Gaza yesterday, Haniyeh said that any Palestinian has the right to bear arms and resist Israel.

However, he stressed, the arms of the Palestinian security services must be controlled by the state.

The Hamas leader added: “We want a government to dominate the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and carry out its work without any interference from anyone. In order to achieve these goals, we are going to Cairo on Monday to talk about security, the crossing and other issues.”

Haniyeh continued: “We are ready to discuss any issue with Fatah and the other factions to reach a united programme on identity, authority and leadership.”

Read: Egypt’s Al-Sisi pledges support for Palestinian reconciliation

Regarding Israel, Haniyeh said that its settlements have been eating up the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. “We took the decision to achieve reconciliation in order to unite our nation to be able to face these challenges,” he said.

“We want to end the siege on Gaza and unite the Palestinians through reconciliation,” Haniyeh added.

He also stressed the importance of maintaining Egyptian national security, noting that this is “important” for all Arab and Islamic nations, mainly the Palestinian people.

“During the past few months we have reinforced the base of a strong and strategic relationship with Egypt, a relationship with political and security depth,” he said.

“The Palestinian security forces have exerted a lot of effort on the border with Egypt,” he added. “Hamas will not protect anyone who aims to harm Egyptian security and we will undermine any measure that harms Egyptian security.”

Haniyeh said that Hamas’ aim is to push the occupation out and liberate Palestinian prisoners.