Haniyeh uses Hamas anniversary to expound position on resistance 

The Head of the Hamas Political Bureau said on Sunday evening that the movement has rehabilitated the option of resistance in all forms and has made its mark on the Palestinian struggle. Ismail Haniyeh made his comments during a televised speech to mark the 33rd anniversary of the founding of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement.

“Hamas has helped to make resistance a strategic option by convincing our people and Ummah that it is a fruitful option,” explained Haniyeh. He pointed out that Hamas and all the other national and Islamic factions have remained committed to the constants of the Palestinian cause. “Hamas is committed to this option and strategy.”

This year’s anniversary comes amid enormous developments and variables that have affected the cause and, indeed, the Arab and Muslim world, said the former democratically-elected Prime Minister. He called for regional events to be considered thoroughly in order to challenge the Israeli occupation.

Haniyeh insisted that ever since its foundation, Hamas has upheld Palestinian unity, reconciliation and partnership among all Palestinians. He called for an end to division and for the restructuring of all political and national bodies, including the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and institutions conducting Palestinian affairs at home and abroad.

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Regretting the Palestinian Authority’s decision to restore ties with the Israeli occupation, he pointed out that this was an enormous obstacle to a breakthrough in unity talks. The Hamas leader added that the movement had made all the concessions necessary to achieve a breakthrough in reconciliation.

“Today we’re facing very serious projects intended to liquidate the Palestinian cause, either through the ‘deal of the century’, annexation or normalisation,” Haniyeh continued. He denounced normalisation between some Arab countries and the Israeli occupation as a crime that paves the way for the Israeli occupation to undermine the Arabs and Muslims, and assert its dominance in the region.

“The challenges are enormous and the dangers are real. However, we are confident that the occupation is doomed to end and that the Palestinian people will establish their full sovereign, independent state on all of the Palestinian territories.”

In his speech, Haniyeh also touched on the issue of Palestinians held prisoner by Israel. Hamas and the other factions, he said, are sparing no effort in trying to obtain their release. He expressed his confidence that a new prisoner swap deal can be agreed.