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Any external presence in Gaza to be considered occupying force: Hamas

By Al Mayadeen English
31 Mar 2024 00:20
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The Palestinian Resistance factions have issued a collective statement condemning the Israeli suggestion of foreign Arab forces governing Gaza.

Masked Hamas fighters wave the Resistance faction's flags during a protest, February 14, 2020 (AP)

The Alliance of Palestinian Resistance factions denounced on Saturday the Israeli proposal that suggests foreign Arab forces should govern the Gaza Strip, warning that such proposals aim to trap Arab countries in serving "Israel's" agendas in Gaza, amid its drastic failure on the battlefield.

The factions also warned, in a statement in Damascus, of the dangers of complying with such proposals, affirming that they embody "a new Zionist trap and lie" that the United States and "Israel" try to impose to shift their defeat in Gaza.

"Turning to certain Arab countries for help, it [Israel], together with the US, seeks to avoid the horrible defeat they have suffered... to get the occupation army out of the huge moor it finds itself trapped in the Gaza Strip," the statement read.

They also stressed that the Palestinian people can choose their own leadership to govern the Strip to maintain its national sovereignty and foil all Israeli-American plots to undermine its independence. The proposal, according to the Resistance actions, was put forward by Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant before Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, and Lloyd Austin.

Moreover, Arab nations must beware of getting caught in the "Zionist trap", according to the factions' alliance, through the promotion or support of Israeli-American plots.

'A purely Palestinian national affair'

Hamas also issued a statement by the Supreme Follow-up Committee of the Palestinian National and Islamic Forces stressing that the occupation leaders' talks regarding the formation of an international or Arab force for the Gaza Strip are “a delusion and a mirage,” stressing that any “force entering the Gaza Strip is rejected, unacceptable, and would be considered an occupying force, which we will deal with accordingly.”

The Resistance movement also appreciated the Arab nations' refusal and rejection of the Israeli proposal, vowing that governing the Palestinian reality is purely an internal national affair that does not allow any force's intervention. All attempts, according to Hamas, to instate alternative authorities that do not consider the Palestinian people's will, "will die before its birth" and will not succeed.

'Israel's' partner in crime

Hamas also addressed the United States and its president, Joe Biden, condemning his intention to send new shipments of weapons, including missiles and warplanes, to the criminal zionist entity, which confirms the full partnership of this administration in the brutal war of extermination waged by the Nazi-zionist occupation against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

"The insistence of Biden's administration on its biased position and its unlimited political and military support for the occupation and its fascist policies, which seek to exterminate our people and displace them from their land, confirms the lie of the American positions regarding the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, and the catastrophe caused by the American-backed zionist killing machine," the statement read.

Hamas added that the ideas it proposes to protect civilians are aimed at misleading and covering up the ongoing crimes of the occupation against our people in the Gaza Strip. The movement called on the international community and the United Nations to impose a complete ban on the supply of weapons to the criminal zionist entity, and to take steps to stop the aggression, leading to holding the occupation and its leaders accountable for the violations and crimes against humanity they have committed.