Member of Hamas Political Bureau Khalil al-Hayya has participated in a webinar with Brazilian journalists and activists.

Held on Tuesday evening, the meeting began with al-Hayya hailing all pro-Palestine activists and friends in Brazil and every participant from all over the globe.  

Answering a question about Hamas’ vision towards the Palestinian struggle against the occupation, al-Hayya said: “Palestine was our land seventy years ago when our people were living freely on the land of Palestine.”

“After the Nakba and due to the oppression of the Zionist movement,” al-Hayya continued. “The Palestinians led a life of dispossession and displacement at the hands of Zionist gangs.”

Since then, al-Hayya added that the Palestinian people have been struggling to restore their freedom, so they appealed to the international community for support.

Al-Hayya pointed out that his movement accepted a consensual solution based on establishing a Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, noting that this is “our minimum requirement.”

Even though Hamas has agreed to this solution, al-Hayya noted, the Israeli occupation is adamant to annex more Palestinian lands from the occupied West Bank and impose its sovereignty over Palestinian sacred places.

“We don’t recognize the Israeli occupation, and we wish to go back to our land without shedding a drop of blood,” al-Hayya reiterated.

Asked whether Hamas is ready to work with Palestinian factions in line with the Palestinian interests, al-Hayya replied that joint work with all Palestinian factions and segments is an “unchangeable principle for Hamas.”  

“Our joint work can be fruitful and bring us closer to our goal,” al-Hayya added. “We also believe that our work with the free people of the world, like the comrades in Brazil is extremely important and pivotal to our struggle for freedom.”

When asked about his movement’s relationship with the Israeli occupation, al-Hayya said that the Israeli occupation had refused any consensual vision agreed upon by all Palestinian factions.

Al-Hayya confirmed that comprehensive resistance is the best way to tackle the Israeli occupation, while stressing that his movement’s relations with all sides is “good and built on mutual respect.”

Hamas has long maintained close ties with all people regardless of their religion, race, or colour, including Christians and Jews, al-Hayya restated. 

“Again, we don’t fight Judaism as a religion but our problem is with the Israeli occupation which forced us out of our lands.”

Regretting that his movement is labeled as “enemy” by some countries, al-Hayya reaffirmed that Hamas has never intervened in the internal affairs of any country

As for its option of resistance, al-Hayya went on to confirm that Hamas is not a warmonger movement adding: “We don’t want to shed a drop of blood but we have nothing to do but to resist the Israeli occupation.”

During the 2014 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, al-Hayya mentioned that Israeli occupation warplanes had bombed his home killing his son and his wife alongside their son

“The Israeli occupation wanted to break the Palestinians’ willpower but the Palestinian resistance managed to survive and defend its people’s rights.”

However, al-Hayya affirmed, the Palestinians have become even more entrenched to their homeland and adhered to the option of resistance.

Regarding the Emirati-Israeli agreement to normalise bilateral ties, al-Hayya demonstrated that this dead came as no surprise to the Palestinian people.

“We were observing these countries’ relations with the Israeli occupation.” Al-Hayya added, noting that such regimes were trying to “buy the satisfaction of the Israeli occupation and the United States by defaming the Palestinian resistance.”  

Al-Hayya restated his movement’s opposition to the Emirati-Israeli deal, stressing that such moves would not be in their favor.

Speaking about the impact of normalising ties with the Israeli occupation, al-Hayya explained that normalisation of relations with Arab states is one of the goals of US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century.”

“This means that such countries will abandon the Palestinian issue,” al-Hayya continued. “Some countries may feel happy to build up ties with the Israeli occupation but they will realize their fault when it abandons them.”  

Concerning the intra-Palestinian unity, al-Hayya insisted that achieving national reconciliation is a strategic option for his movement despite having different views on how to resist the Israeli occupation.

“We have strong ties with all Palestinian factions, even with Fatah,” al-Hayya added, noting that such relationship has improved after the Israeli occupation announced plans to annex large swaths of the occupied West Bank.     

Asked how might the forthcoming American election affect Palestinian cause, al-Hayya said that Trump was seeking another term in office by “pleasing the Israeli lobby at the expense of the Palestinian rights.”

“I think that Trump would proceed with his policies that are biased to the Israeli occupation, but this will not achieve stability in the region,” al-Hayya concluded.

 

Source: The official website of the Islamic movement Hamas