Alwaght- Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has rejected pressures to be disarmed or recognize Israeli regime.
"No one in the universe can disarm us. On the contrary, we will continue to have the power to protect our citizens," Yahya Sinwar former head of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas military wing, said on Thursday. "No one has the ability to extract from us recognition of the occupation," Sinwar added.
His remarks came after US President Donald Trump’s special representative for international negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, said any Palestinian government must recognize Israeli regime and disarm Hamas.
Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, accused the Trump administration of “blatant interference in Palestinian affairs.”
“It is the right of our people to choose its government according to their supreme strategic interests,” he said.
Naim also said Greenblatt was bowing to pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing regime.
Netanyahu’s cabinet said in a statement on Tuesday that Tel Aviv would not engage in negotiations with a future Palestinian unity government that had the backing of Hamas.
Both Hamas and its Ramallah-based rival Fatah were quick to brush off Netanyahu’s threats, with the Palestinian Authority saying such a hostile stance would not affect the nation’s resolve to pursue its goals.
Last week, however, Fatah and Hamas signed a provisional unity agreement in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, in which the latter agreed to dissolve its administrative committee in Gaza.
