The member of Hamas Political Bureau Husam Badran warned against the efforts exerted by the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to foil the Egyptian endeavors aimed to restore the reconciliation and heal the internal rift.

In a press release, Badran said, “The policies of Abbas have led to hinder the reconciliation and achieve nothing on the ground.”

Badran explained that Abbas’ insistence to isolate all factions and monopolize the national decisions has undermined Egypt’s efforts to restore the national unity.

Gaza’s future

The senior Hamas leader stated that Hamas spares no effort to alleviate the plight of the Gaza Strip and the first step towards that goal is the national reconciliation.

“All sides know that Hamas has made a number of concessions to make Egypt’s efforts regarding the national reconciliation succeed, as this goal is a priority for the resistance movement,” Badran said.

The Hamas leader noted that the internal reconciliation must be achieved on the basis of national partnership and the reinforcement of the reconciliation agreements that have been consensually signed, above all the 2011 Cairo agreement.

Badran stressed that Qatar is exerting great efforts to alleviate the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.

“All sides should exert efforts to mitigate the aggravating situation in Gaza”, Badran said, and “It is not acceptable to link the Palestinians’ basic needs with partisan-related demands that contradict the national consensus.”

The Politburo member noted that the circumstances at the Gaza Strip are very complicated, highlighting the conflicting political and security stances adopted by the Israeli occupation’s leaders towards the coastal territory.  

Badran mentioned that the ongoing pressure on the Gaza Strip would inevitably lead to an explosion if not alleviated, and in this case, the escalation would inflict negative consequences on all parties.

He clarified that the Palestinian people do not want any further wars and the Israeli occupation has been ‘the aggressor’ in all offensives against the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas leader stressed that the Palestinian people have been showing their creativity in the Great Return March, and they will continue making sacrifices while participating in their peaceful protests to demand the Israeli occupation forces remove the blockade on Gaza. “Our people are persistent to go on [in their march] regardless of the future circumstances”, he continued.

Since March 2018, the Palestinian people have been taking part in mass protests along the Gaza border fence to demand the implementation of the UN Resolution 194, which states that the Palestinian refugees should be permitted to go back to their homeland “at the earliest practicable date”. The peaceful protesters also demand to lift the crippling siege the Israeli occupation has been imposing on the Gaza Strip for more than 12 years.

The Israeli occupation has been trying to suppress the Palestinian masses since March with excessive violence, leaving hundreds of Palestinian victims and thousands of causalities.

As regards the situation in the West Bank, Badran said, “We trust the Palestinian people in the West Bank and they would continue their resistance against the Israeli occupation in spite of the complicated situation: the Israeli arrests and the security collaboration that the Palestinian Authority maintains with the Israeli occupation despite the national opposition to this gross crime.