A high-ranking official from the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says his group is determined to foil US President Donald Trump’s plan for the Middle East. RNA - Khalil al-Hayya, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, made the remarks during a ceremony in Gaza City on Wednesday, vowing that the resistance group would continue its fight against the Israeli occupation.
His comments came more than two weeks after the American president unveiled his much-delayed and self-proclaimed “deal of the century” during an event at the White House alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Palestinian groups have unanimously rejected Trump’s one-sided plan, which largely meets Israel’s demands in the decades-old conflict with the Palestinians while envisioning a Palestinian state with limited control over its own security and borders.
The so-called “peace” plan enshrines Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allows the regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The plan also denies the right of return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland, among other controversial terms.
Trump’s plan has triggered waves of protest rallies both across the Palestinian occupied territories and around the globe.
Hayya’s comments were primarily made in response to Netanyahu, who threatened Hamas on Tuesday with dire “surprise” if the movement’s attacks against Israeli targets did not come to an end.
“While you are threatening Hamas, Hamas is already geared up to uproot you and make you leave our land,” the senior Hamas official said, directly addressing the Israeli premier.
“If the [Palestinian Authority’s] relations and security coordination with the occupation are not severed, the world will not believe us that we are against ‘the deal of the century,’” he stressed.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has already severed ties between the Palestinian Authority, which he heads, and the Israeli regime as well as the US in reaction to Trump’s scheme. Addressing the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Abbas reiterated his rejection of the US president’s initiative.
Palestinian leaders had severed almost all ties with Washington in late 2017, when Trump controversially recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as the so-called “capital” of the Israeli regime.
“National unity can only be achieved through agreeing on the fact that the occupation is our enemy that has no place on the Palestinian land and that the only way to face the ‘deal of the century’ is to resist the occupation using all means,” Hayya stressed.
Apart from the Palestinian leaders, many other international blocs and organizations, including the European Union (EU), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the African Union (AU), have rejected Trump’s plan.
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