Hamas founder calls on PA, Fatah to join forces in armed resistance

A senior member of Hamas has called on Palestinian militant groups to join forces, abandon peace negotiations, and engage in armed resistance against Israel.

Speaking to Lebanese TV channel al-Mayadeen on Thursday, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas said that the Palestinians should follow Gaza’s example in reclaiming Israel as solely Palestinian, through violent means.

“In the Gaza Strip there aren’t any Jews. There is no occupation. There is independence. This emphasizes the fact that the land of Palestine isn’t completely liberated,” al-Zahar said, according to a translation of a clip of the interview uploaded to Twitter by journalist Assaf Gibor.

— אסף גבור assaf gibor (@assafgibor) July 5, 2020
Al-Zahar continued: “What is needed now is to implement in the West Bank what is happening in Gaza. All the actors must nullify and disassemble the past agreements such as the security operation.”

Disavowing both the two state solution and any recognition of the State of Israel, al-Zahar continued: “All of this must be taken off the table. A new plan must be put on the table that determines the Palestinian right on all the Palestinian land, and nation, not just Gaza or the West Bank, as well as our holy sites. We will start a real liberation plan for this land and not a policy of negotiations.”

According to Fars News English, he added that Hamas is going to ask for the cooperation of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah in formulating a joint plan to oppose the State of Israel through armed resistance.

Fars News reported that on the same day as al-Zahar’s interview broadcast, Jibril Rajoub, Fatah Secretary General from Ramallah, and Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas deputy chief from Beirut held a joint video conference vowing to unite their movements in fighting against Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank, an event which was the first of its kind for several years.