Hamas Complains to UN About US Push for Pro-Israel Resolution

Rasa - Hamas wrote to the UN, condemning "aggressive" attempts by the US to pass a resolution against the resistance movement, urging the world body to end Tel Aviv's “abhorrent” occupation of the Palestinian territories.

News ID: 441801

Date: 30 November 2018 - 14:17

RNA - In a letter addressed to UN General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa on Wednesday, head of Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh highlighted the importance of international work to thwart Washington's efforts meant to delegitimize the Palestinian resistance, Middle East News reported.

He also reiterated the right of the Palestinian nation to defend themselves and resist the occupation, describing Hamas as a movement that acts for "the fulfillment of the Palestinian aspirations".

The letter came days after Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said that US diplomats had been in talks with their EU counterparts to win their backing for a draft resolution against Hamas.

The UN General Assembly is expected to vote Friday or possibly Monday on the motion.

A draft text seen by AFP “condemns Hamas for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence".

Elsewhere in his letter, Haniyeh added that he has been "following up with great anger and condemnation the ongoing and miserable efforts by the United States of America, not only by adopting the Israeli narrative of the conflict, but also by providing all the necessary material and moral support for the Israeli occupation".

He also stressed that Hamas would "greatly count on the members of the UN General Assembly [to] stand by international legitimacy in support for the right of peoples to defend themselves and thwart these aggressive American endeavors".

The Hamas leader further denounced Israel's occupation of the Palestinians lands, illegal settlement activities, the judaization of Jerusalem al-Quds and the terrible siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Israel, he noted, is "acting as an entity above the law, by rejecting dozens of international resolutions condemning the occupation, settlement and targeting civilians, and even working to abort these decisions and prevent their implementation in all ways”.

Additionally, Haniyeh called on the UN to put an end to the “abhorrent” Israeli occupation and help Palestinian dreams come true.

Since late March, tensions have been running high near the Gaza fence - which marked the start of a series of rallies demanding the right to return for the Palestinians driven out of their homeland. More than 230 Palestinians have been killed and some 23,000 others wounded in the fresh wave of violence.

The region has been under Israel’s all-out siege since 2007 and witnessed three wars since 2008. Tel Aviv seven-week-long war in 2014 and two other military operations over the last six years have caused economic losses close to three times the size of Gaza's gross domestic product. The latest onslaught claimed the lives of over 2,200 Palestinians and left over half a million more displaced, with another 11,000 injured in the assault. It also severely damaged more than 20,000 homes, 148 schools, 15 hospitals, and 45 clinics. At least 247 factories and 300 commercial centers were rendered inoperable or totally destroyed in the attack.

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