The Hamas leadership rounded off the meetings of its politburo, headed by Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and attended by Hamas politburo members at home and abroad.

The leadership discussed in its talks all matters and developments in various fields concerning the Palestinian cause, particularly the situation in Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the issue of Palestinian detainees, Gaza’s siege, and the conditions of the Palestinian people everywhere, especially following the “Sword of Al-Quds” battle, whose effects are still noticeable at the domestic and foreign levels and its positive outcomes are still impacting the Palestinian national project to achieve more of the Palestinian aspirations and goals.

Hailing its standing and role in the region and towards the Palestinian cause, the Hamas leadership thanked Egypt for hosting it and meeting with its Minister of Intelligence General Abbas Kamel and the Egyptian General Intelligence Service’s team which follows up the Palestinian affairs.

The attendants addressed the regional and international political changes and their repercussions on the Palestinian cause.

The Hamas leadership restated its constants towards the Palestinian cause, which is central to the Arab and Muslim world, and the Arab and Muslim issues and interests, reaffirming its keenness for stability to prevail in the Arab and Muslim nations and its commitment to boost its ties with them in ways that serve the Arab, Muslim and Palestinian issues.

In this regard, the Hamas leadership offers its sincere congratulations to the Lebanese people on the formation of Lebanon’s new government, calling for protecting the rights of Palestinians in refugee camps in Lebanon and alleviate their humanitarian sufferings until they return to their homeland.

The leadership also talked about advancing progress in the Palestinian national liberation project amid major challenges facing the Palestinian people and their national cause, particularly the behavior of the Israeli occupation which works on liquidating the Palestinian cause at different levels, either by normalizing ties with Arab regimes or by expanding its illegal colonial settlement's activity and stealing further Palestinian land and systematically Judaizing Jerusalem and imposing temporal and spatial division at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in addition to imposing arbitrary measures, the latest of which was the null decision to allow Israeli colonial settlers to pray at the Al-Aqsa compound.

In addition, they discussed the heinous Israeli occupation practices against Palestinian detainees in Israeli occupation jails and the conditions of Palestinian detainees, particularly the hunger strikers of administrative detainees.

The Hamas leadership reiterated its keenness on concluding a new prisoner swap deal that ensures the Israeli occupation responds to the terms of releasing Palestinian detainees.  

In this regard, the leadership renewed its call for Saudi Arabia to release the Palestinians it is holding, above them is Dr. Mohammed al-Khoudari, and to close this case in a way that suits the kingdom’s history with the Palestinian people.

In light of the aforementioned, the Hamas leadership stated the following:

First: The issue of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the core of the Palestinian struggle and the bedrock of the Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian connection to the Palestinian cause. Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are a redline; we warn the Israeli occupation against crossing it. We do everything in our power to protect them at any cost from all Israeli schemes intended to divide the Al-Aqsa complex or Judaize Jerusalem.

Second: We reaffirm the necessity of rallying Arab and Muslim support for the Palestinian cause to face the Israeli occupation schemes. Hamas welcomes the steps taken to achieve regional reconciliations and settle disagreements among the Arab and Muslim nations – a move that will have positive impacts on the Palestinian cause and the Arab and Muslim world.

Third: Hamas will work on achieving Palestinian unity and end the intra-Palestinian division of which the Israeli occupation is taking advantage to impose realities on the ground while the international community is evading its responsibility towards the Palestinian cause. This requires restructuring the Palestinian house according to the following vision:

1 – Reorganising the Palestinian leadership as per democratic and national principles to form a unified, central leadership and rebuilding the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to include all Palestinian parties and factions to serve as a starting point for accomplishing the Palestinian goals and aspirations.

Hamas renews its readiness to engage in a serious process to restructure the Palestinian leadership either through elections or by agreeing on a temporary leadership for a specific period of time until holding the Palestinian elections.

2– Agreeing on a national strategy based on the strengths of the Palestinians at home and abroad and formulating a national political program agreed upon by all segments of the Palestinian people at home and in the diaspora. This strategy will be a starting point for the Palestinian political and field action given that the Palestinian people are still in the stage of national liberation to restore all their rights, including the return of Palestinian refugees, liberating the Palestinian territories, and establishing a sovereign Palestinian state on all of the Palestinian territories with Jerusalem as its capital.

3 – Agreeing on a comprehensive resistance program to face off the Zionist occupation project with all means and tools possible as part of the national strategic vision to fight off the Israeli occupation and its schemes and put an end to its growing influence in the region and its crimes and racist policies against the Palestinians.

Fourth: We warn against the Israeli occupation’s policy of entrenching and expanding its grave colonial settlement activity. We stress that we will face off this move with all means possible and with all our strength. We salute residents of the West Bank town of Beita and all Palestinians in flashpoint areas for fighting off the Israeli occupation. We confirm that the state of constant confrontation with the Israeli occupation is natural and will continue and that resistance in all of its forms is the persistent means of warding off the Israeli occupation and its aggressive policies and practices.

Fifth: We hail Palestinian detainees in Israeli occupation prisons and stress that we have taken the following two courses to release them:

1 – Wesupport them and back their quest for all of their rights in prison.

2– We spare no effort to release the Palestinian detainees with all means and ways possible. Hamas will not hesitate to take any step at any cost to release the Palestinians held in Israeli occupation jails. We call on the Palestinians to continue voicing their solidarity with the Palestinian detainees and expose Israeli practices against them.

Sixth: We affirm that we will continue our quest to ensure a decent life for all Palestinians everywhere and reiterate the necessity to dedicate all efforts to strengthen Palestinian unity and work on achieving legitimate Palestinian goals.

Seventh: We will continue working on breaking the unfair Israeli siege imposed on the Palestinian people in Gaza. Hamas welcomes and endorses all efforts exerted by Egypt and Qatar to start the reconstruction process and end Gaza’s blockade, in addition to resuming the entry of the Qatari grant into the Gaza Strip.

Eighth: We praise the Palestinian citizens of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 for remaining steadfast, sticking to their land, and defending their rights. We also salute all Palestinians in refugee camps and in diaspora and reaffirm our support for them until they return to their homeland.

Ninth: We salute Hamas members and supporters everywhere; at the beginning of this electoral term, we confirm our quest to dedicate all of our capabilities to serve the Palestinian national project and the Arab and Muslim issues in a way that benefits the Palestinian people and the whole Ummah.

Tenth: The Hamas leadership reaffirmed that it is open to establishing relations with all of the international community, welcoming channels of dialogue that may lead to boosting the status of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian right to liberation from occupation. Hamas also welcomes all positive stances taken by political segments, either in the European Union, the United States, or any country around the world.

The Hamas leadership salutes the Palestinian wounded and families of all Palestinian martyrs who have fallen for the sake of the just and sacred Palestinian cause.

Hamas Movement

Saturday, 9 October 2021