Hamas censures ‘blatant US interference’ in Palestinian unity efforts

The Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, has blasted the US of “blatant interference” in Palestinian affairs after Washington said the Gaza-based group should disarm under an emerging Palestinian unity government.

On Thursday morning, US President Donald Trump’s special representative for international negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, said any Palestinian government must, among other things, recognize the illegal Zionist entity known as Israel and disarm Hamas, which has defended Gaza against three bloody Israeli wars over the past decade.

In response to the comments, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim accused the US government of “blatant interference in Palestinian affairs,” stressing that “it is the right of our people to choose its government according to their supreme strategic interests.”

Naim said Greenblatt was bowing to pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing administration.

“This statement comes under pressure from the extreme right-wing Netanyahu government and is in line with the Netanyahu statement from two days ago,” he added.

Both rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Ramallah-based Fatah, were quick to brush off Netanyahu’s threats, with the Palestinian Authority (PA) 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.

Under that deal, Hamas’ 25,000-strong armed wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam, which has defended Gaza against three deadly imposed Israeli wars over the past decade, would maintain its position.

The resistance group has said the force is non-negotiable.

SS