Palestinians rally behind Hamas ahead of US-crafted resolution

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party has vowed to support its rival Hamas resistance movement at the United Nations General Assembly against a US-drafted resolution.

“We will stand against all hostile efforts to condemn Hamas at the United Nations,” Fatah spokesman Osama Qawassmeh said.

The spokesman said Fatah was prepared to put aside its differences with Hamas in order to reject the resolution against the resistance movement. 

“We will fight to defeat this resolution despite Hamas’s effort to undermine the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority,” he said.

The Palestinian leadership has been divided between Fatah and Hamas since 2006, when the latter scored a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip.

Ever since, Hamas has been running the coastal enclave, while Fatah has been based in the autonomous parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Qawassmeh condemned the US-led motion, saying instead of denouncing Hamas, the world should rap Israel “which is the true face of state-sponsored terrorism.”

Hamas has condemned the resolution as an attempt to delegitimize the Palestinian resistance and reiterated the right of the Palestinian nation to defend itself and resist the occupation.

SS