Arab states target Hamas members and fund-raising networks

A senior official of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has accused some Arab states of targeting its members and fund-raising networks, Felesteen.ps has reported. Mousa Abu Marzook told the website that the same states also target known Hamas supporters.

“In doing so they serve American and Israeli agendas,” explained Abu Marzook. He stressed that Hamas does not interfere in the internal affairs of any of these countries. It is believed that he was referring specifically to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both of which appear to have turned against the Palestinian movement in their rush to normalise relations with Israel.

When asked about Hamas efforts to release its members detained in the Arab world, Abu Marzook pointed out that “diplomatic action and media silence” is the preferred option. “We are trying to reach a quiet solution for the crisis inflicted upon our members.” He admitted, though, that there has been no new development in the issue of the Palestinians and Hamas members detained in Saudi Arabia.

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Efforts to relocate Palestinian refugees who live in Lebanon are being made in order to “push” them out of the host country, added the senior Hamas official, and remove the refugee issue from the international agenda, as happened in Kuwait, Syria, and Iraq. He noted that conditions in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon are very bad.

There are so-called emigration offices in the refugee camps in Lebanon, he confirmed. It is still unknown which countries are ready to open their doors to Palestinian refugees.

Among the issues which made life difficult for the Palestinian refugees, he said, is the relatively weak position of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The US has been UNRWA’s biggest single donor but cut all funding last year. Israel has been lobbying to close down the Agency, a move which would basically cancel the refugee status of millions of Palestinians.

According to Mousa Abu Marzook, getting rid of the Palestinian refugee issue is part of the US “deal of the century”. He insisted, though, that the refugees and their plight — and their legitimate right to return to their land — are “part and parcel” of the principles of the Palestinian cause.

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