GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) – Palestine’s Hamas resistance movement’s political chief says the Zionist regime cannot change the reality on the ground across the occupied lands, including the holy city of Al-Quds, no matter what manipulative or aggressive course of action it resorts to.
“The measures that the occupying Zionist regime takes in Al-Quds can neither manipulate the historical and geographical facts [concerning the city] nor turn lies into truths,” Ismail Haniyeh said on Tuesday, marking the 34th anniversary of Hamas’ establishment.
The occupying regime proclaimed existence in 1948 after overrunning vast swathes of regional Arab lands, including the western part of Al-Quds, during a heavily Western-backed war. The regime occupied the rest of the city in a similar campaign of aggression in 1967.
Al-Quds hosts the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is Islam’s third holiest site. Palestinians want the city to serve as the capital of their future state.
The Hamas official urged Palestinians to work towards the realization of unity among their ranks so they can defend their rights in a more resolute manner.
“Support for the Palestinian nation’s rights requires that we stand together in a single front and strive towards unity,” he noted.
Haniyeh also vowed that the Palestinian movement would not free Zionist prisoners that are in its captivity, until the regime agrees to release Palestinian prisoners.
He repeated Hamas’ principled position of refusing to recognize the Zionist enemy, reminding the regime of its constant failure to destroy the resistance group since its 1987 establishment.
“All the plans and plots that were drawn up to enable Hamas’ destruction through either siege or warfare have fallen through,” the Hamas’ official said.
The Zionist regime brought the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is headquartered, under an all-out siege in 2006, when the group rose to power in the Palestinian territory.
It has also launched four wars against the coastal sliver, the last of which that took place in May prompted the group to fire back thousands of missiles towards the occupied Palestinian territories.