What is Hamas' plan the day after the occupation's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip? A leader answers

Hamas is still committed to the goals and objectives for which it was formed, which are related to the freedom and independence of the Palestinian people and the defeat and expulsion of the occupation. The scenes we have seen, whether through the steadfastness and perseverance in the Gaza Strip and the bravery and creativity in the resistance, or the scenes that appeared during the handover of female soldiers and the release of female prisoners, all confirm that the amount of support, backing and belief in the position of Hamas and its project is very large.

But this does not mean that the tools for achieving these goals are rigid. They may change in form and titles, but the paths and goals are fixed, and the mechanisms for achieving these goals may change due to political considerations related to regional, domestic and international dimensions.

But Hamas will do what is required of it towards the Palestinian people through material, psychological and moral reconstruction, and harnessing all resources for the Palestinians, especially material and human resources in the West Bank and elsewhere, to direct them towards achieving these goals.

We are fully confident that our journey began with the Al-Aqsa flood, and this flood changes from one stage to another and from one place to another, but in the end it will reach victory. The victory has begun and will be interspersed with victories through scenes of the liberation of prisoners, and in the end the Al-Aqsa flood will reach a political victory by achieving our goals.

Does this also include the movement’s approval of forming a unified government to manage the Gaza Strip, affiliated with the Palestinian Authority and in which Hamas participates?

There is no doubt that Palestinian unity in any form is a goal and a demand for Hamas, and it has been keen to present it at all stages, but it was met with rejection by the Authority and the Fatah Movement. This was embodied in realistic facts related to the community committee, which was also rejected by the National Consensus Government.

Therefore, we support any form of political unity to manage the political and social affairs in the Gaza Strip with the aim of reconstruction and healing the wounds of our sons and our people. This was embodied in the facts of the Doha meeting of all factions, where we invited the Fatah movement to share this scene with us - the scene of victory and defense of the rights of the Palestinian people - through an image that reflects unity and solidarity.

But unfortunately, Fatah refused and refrained from attending. However, our doors remain open and our hearts are open to accommodate any demand that allows for complete and comprehensive management of Gaza, so that it is complete and integrated from its door to its altar.

It also included the necessity of the unity of the Palestinian political system and Palestinian geography, and this is a guarantee for the partnership of all Palestinian nationals. Therefore, we are with a Palestinian unity and consensus government based on the Palestinian Basic Law, and embodying the aspiration that we seek to achieve in light of the political circumstances and the balance of international powers. The ball is always in the court of the Authority and the Fatah movement.

What guarantees can avoid any Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement?

The guarantees are that the agreement is backed by guarantor countries represented by mediators, as well as countries that were monitoring and were prepared to participate in ensuring the implementation of this agreement. Then the agreement itself was tight in its texts, and its clauses were reciprocal such that Hamas would not implement a clause without having guaranteed that Israel would implement what was equivalent or parallel to it.

Just as the agreement achieved the interests of the Palestinian people under the existing circumstances and complications, it also achieved the interests of Israel. The enemy wants to release its prisoners and tried with all its might and practiced the most heinous forms of destruction, genocide, killing, starvation and attempted displacement, but it did not succeed; therefore, it will not miss the opportunity to coincide with this agreement.

We say that the reality after some time will contribute to complicating the scene before the Zionist enemy to restart the war again. In addition to that, the will of our people has proven its ability through closing ranks and readiness to defend these national rights collectively, and although some doubts appeared at the political level, at the level of the people and the majority of the factions and components of the Palestinian social and union people, it remained in close ranks and united around our rights and national goals.

Hamas is being subjected to a media campaign holding it responsible for the destruction and killing in Gaza after the Al-Aqsa flood. What is your response to that?

The Zionist enemy does not need justifications, as it has committed crimes at all stages and in all the decades in which it occupied the land of Palestine, such as in 1948, in Deir Yassin, Kafr Qasim, Dhahiriya, Sabra and Shatila, the Gaza wars, and the wars it fought with the Arab countries, and in all of them it was not bound by morals or limitations. Likewise, all the peoples who fought a struggle to liberate their countries from occupation resisted.

Therefore, the enemy tried to prevent this resistance from achieving its goals of freedom and independence, but we estimated that the enemy we were facing was brutal, Nazi and barbaric and used all means in a way that history had never seen before. And he found a country like America providing him with all means of support and assistance, as it supported him with about 67 billion dollars in equipment, weapons, economic, political and diplomatic support so that he could continue this crime for 15 months.

The steadfastness and perseverance of our people confirmed their connection to their goals and homeland, and homelands will not be liberated except through sacrifice, and the extent of sacrifice is linked to the determination of the people under occupation. The Palestinian people insist on obtaining their rights, and this is related to the nature of the enemy and its readiness to go far in killing and committing crimes.

There is no freedom without sacrifice, and no sacrifice except in the context of a liberation process and journey, as the Palestinian people are currently undertaking, which will be crowned with freedom and victory. This pure blood, these great sacrifices, and this creative steadfastness that has amazed this world can only be translated into freedom and complete independence, God willing.

Source: Al Jazeera