Head of Hamas political bureau Ismail Haniyeh called on Arab leaders and officials to support the Palestinian people in their freedom struggle, and to endorse the Algerian declaration of Palestinian national reconciliation.

In a letter addressed to the attendants of Arab summit set to be held today, Haniyeh said it was a good choice that the Arab summit would resume convening after it stopped three years ago on the anniversary of the Algerian war of liberation, during which one and a half million Algerian martyrs fell, and ended with the liberation of Algeria.

The Hamas chief added that the Palestinian people and their just cause are going through one of the most delicate and complex stages on the political and humanitarian levels. The Gaza Strip is under a suffocating siege, Palestinian detainees languishing in very harsh conditions in Israeli occupation jails, and the displaced refugees are living in exile and diaspora with compelling humanitarian conditions.

Despite all of that, the Palestinian people, he confirmed, are courageously resisting the Israeli occupation, standing up for their rights, and defending their lands and sanctities.

Haniyeh also called on the Arab leaders attending the summit to approve the generous Algerian initiative entitled (Algeria Declaration for Palestinian Unification) to achieve the unity of the Palestinian people and to consider it part of the decisions of the Arab summit.

He stressed the need to reaffirm that the Palestinian cause is a central issue of our Arab countries and shoulder responsibility to mobilize efforts to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom and return.

Calling for practical steps to be taken to protect Islamic and Christian holy sites, especially the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to strengthen the steadfastness of the Palestinian citizens of occupied Jerusalem, Haniyeh called on the Arab leaders to implement the decisions of previous Arab summits by breaking the siege on the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas chief called on the Arab summit participants to support the Palestinian detainees in the Israeli occupation jails and spare no effort to free them. He also called on them to help the Palestinian refugees in exile and diaspora, support their right to return, condemn the Israeli occupation and its crimes, work to isolate it politically and diplomatically, and expose its crimes against our people.