ISMAIL HANIYEH, head of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas’ Political Bureau, has expressed certainty regarding the Israeli regime’s eventual removal from the entirety of the Palestinian territories.
The Hamas leader made the remarks in a speech on Wednesday. He was marking the anniversary of Palestinians’ historical exodus from their homeland at the hands of the Israeli regime and its Western backers in 1948, which is known by Palestinians as the day of ‘Nakba’ or Catastrophe.
Israel’s ‘removal from our land is a Qur’anic inevitability and historical truth,’ he asserted.
‘They intended the Nakba to destroy the Palestinian people and end their sacred cause,’ Haniyeh said. ‘Yet, the Palestinian cause remains strong in the consciousness of our people, our nation, and the free people of the world.’
The Palestinian leader vowed that the anti-Israeli operation that was staged by the Gaza Strip-based resistance movements on October 7 served as a ‘a prelude to liberation and independence’.
Haniyeh noted how the operation saw Palestinian fighters ‘storming their (the Israeli regime’s) fortified strongholds and humiliating the Israeli army which was once thought as invincible’.
He stated: ‘We have seen how they behave, attempting to cover their failure and shame with massacres, killings, and torture.’
The Hamas official was referring to the genocidal war that the regime launched following Al-Aqsa Storm, through which it has so far killed more than 35,170 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
‘We say that Hamas is here to stay,’ Haniyeh insisted, dismissing the Israeli regime and its supporters’ allegations that the movement could be ousted from Gaza’s rule through the war.
‘The movement will continue its efforts to stop this brutal aggression by all possible means,’ he stated, adding, ‘We are confident this aggression will be broken and will be expelled from our land, no matter how long it takes.’
The Hamas’ leader said the management of Gaza after the war was to be solely decided by the movement in cooperation with the national consensus.
Haniyeh, meanwhile, insisted that any agreement on cessation of the Israeli aggression had to ensure a permanent ceasefire and the regime’s complete withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip.
It also had to feature a ‘genuine’ captive exchange deal, guarantee the return of the displaced, envision Gaza’s reconstruction, and enable lifting the blockade that the Israeli regime has been simultaneously imposing on the coastal sliver, he said.
The Hamas’ official noted how the movement had recently responded positively to a ceasefire proposal crafted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, which was met by the Israeli regime’s rejection.
‘The behaviour of the occupation towards the various proposals confirms its premeditated intention to continue the aggression and war, showing no concern for its prisoners or their fate,’ Haniyeh said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Hamas’ leader hailed Iran’s retaliatory operation of April 14 against the Israeli regime.
‘We also highly appreciate the blow dealt by the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Zionist enemy, and how it demonstrated this enemy’s need for protection,’ he said.
During the operation, Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles at military bases in the Israeli-occupied territories.
The large-scale attack, dubbed Operation True Promise, was a response to a terrorist Israeli raid against Iran’s consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus that had killed 13 people, including seven military advisers serving Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
