In an interview with al-Aqsa TV channel, Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri said that his movement will continue comprehensive discussions with all Palestinian factions until reaching an inclusive national agreement, noting that bilateral talks between Hamas and Fatah facilitated achieving this goal.

Al-Arouri pointed out that arrangements are being made to form a national leadership to activate and develop popular resistance in order to include partnership in the Palestinian political system.      

Normalization with the zionist occupation regime

Slamming normalization by some Arab countries with the Israeli occupation, al-Arouri said that the Arab regimes that had normalized ties with the zionist occupation regime violated the Arab Peace Initiative.

“Normalization is one the courses to liquidate the Palestinian cause,” al-Arouri pointed out.

Since it is at the heart of the Palestinian cause, al-Arouri added, the zionist occupation regime is targeting occupied Jerusalem through Judaization plans and illegal settlement activities.

As for Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz’s verbal attack on the Palestinian leadership, al-Arouri noted that such comments were made to weaken the unified Palestinian position and exert pressure on it.

Al-Arouri stressed that Hamas had rejected a US request for talks with it, confirming that this move was intended to undermine the unified Palestinian standing and threaten the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leadership.

Istanbul talks

The deputy chief of Hamas Political Bureau reiterated that his movement is committed to the understandings reached in Istanbul, noting that holding Palestinian-Palestinian meetings in Turkey does not indicate that Hamas has taken a negative stance towards any Arab state.

“We agreed in Istanbul that bilateral understandings will not be formalized until an inclusive national agreement is reached,” al-Arouri continued, adding that both movements agreed to prepare the ground in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip for this move.

Despite pressure and obstacles, we agreed to embrace a popular resistance approach in the occupied West Bank in this stage, al-Arouri affirmed, adding that this form of resistance may be developed after national consultations.

Palestinian elections

Al-Arouri confirmed that Hamas believed that holding elections after an inclusive national agreement is “the most appropriate option”, stressing the need to hold PLO, legislative, and presidential elections to strengthen the Palestinian position. 

Regarding the joint electoral list for the parliamentary elections, al-Arouri explained that no decision was taken on this matter but a preliminary agreement between Hamas and Fatah was reached.  

Noting that the zionist occupation government temporarily postponed its plans to annex the occupied West Bank, al-Arouri noted that the political approach based on US-brokered negotiations with the Israeli occupation had reached a dead end.

Resistance project

Al-Arouri reaffirmed that his movement “bets” on the resistance option, which has managed to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, citing the zionist withdrawal from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip.

Every national achievement for the Palestinian cause, al-Arouri added, was made thanks to the option of resistance against the occupation. 

Undermining Palestinian unity

Al-Arouri noted that some Arab states contacted Fatah carrying US messages against achieving Palestinian national unity.

“The sides that pressured Fatah to backtrack on the national partnership are the same countries which sponsored the “deal of the century”, al-Arouri demonstrated. “These countries are not serving the interests of the Palestinian people.”

The senior Hamas official called for Palestinian activists, writers, and policy makers to play a positive role in support of national partnership among Palestinian factions.

As for Palestinian detainee Maher al-Akhras, who has been on an open-ended hunger strike for 81 days, al-Arouri hoped that al-Akhras will win his “battle against administrative detention in the zionist regime’s prisons.” (ILKHA)