Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem has expressed his movement’s appreciation to all official and popular stances against normalisation and the agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Israeli occupation to normalise bilateral ties.

Qasem’s comments came after a number of Arab poets and writers announced their withdrawal from competitions held by UAE in protest against the Emeriti-Israeli normalisation agreement.

In a press release on Saturday afternoon, Qasem added that this move reflected the “collective consciousness” of the Arab world, which still views Palestine as its core issue and the Israeli occupation as its arch enemy.

These positions, Qasem added, confirm that the sides normalising relations with the Israeli occupation are isolated and that the Arab public are strongly against this approach.

Qasem called for pressuring any side trying to normalise ties into backtracking on such move, which harms the Palestinian cause and Arab interests.