The West Bank is currently ruled by the Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas, and the Gaza Strip by Hamas. After elections in 2006 and a civil war with Abbas's Fatah in 2007, Hamas alone took control of Gaza, and it has ruled as a single party ever since.
On October 12, 2017, Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation agreement brokered by Egypt in Cairo.
“We have received many initiatives regarding the internal (Palestinian) situation and We are open to the idea of a national government for the West Bank and Gaza” Haniyeh said in a televised interview this Tuesday.
The fate of the Gaza Strip has worried the international community following the Israeli military offensive against Hamas since October 7.
This Tuesday, Israel's unity government was scheduled to meet to discuss the day after the war. But after an attack in Beirut that killed a senior Hamas official, the meeting was canceled, as were peace talks brokered by Qatar and Egypt.
At least two Israeli ministers will press the Palestinians to leave voluntarily.
Evacuating populations from its territory is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions, which cover the foundations of international humanitarian law, and the United States has already spoken out against the idea, which has been floated by Israeli officials.
An option to leave was also rejected by the leader of Hamas, who lives in Qatar. “Conspiracy to transfer [o povo palestiniano] Unattainable”, he assured in the same interview, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
Israel's “Failure”
In fact, Haniyeh was confident of his team's victory, predicting a “defeat” for the enemy.
“Every day, resistance and hope of victory are getting stronger”, he assured. “The enemy is destined to fail.”
“This occupation will end under the blows of our people's resistance and perseverance. The occupation has no choice but to bow to the will of our people”, Haniyeh said.
Israel's military operations have been ongoing for nearly three months, sparked by an October 7 invasion of its territory coordinated by Hamas that killed 1,200 people, most of them Israeli civilians, according to multiple reports.
Hamas took about 250 hostages in the same operation. A one-week ceasefire between November 24 and 30 allowed the release of 105 of these civilians in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. After several hostages died during the fighting, Israeli officials say 129 hostages will be kidnapped in Gaza.
About this, Ismail Haniyeh declared, “They will be released only if the conditions of resistance are met.” Hamas, sent to Qatar and Egypt, brokered negotiations with Israel. The main demand is a “complete end to the occupation” against the Palestinians.
Hamas has ruled out the possibility of new ceasefires for prisoner exchanges before the “end of the war”. Israel does not accept any permanent ceasefire and has vowed to destroy Hamas.
The West Bank is in danger of “collapsing”.
More than 22,000 people have been killed in the fighting in Gaza as of Tuesday, according to the Palestinian group. According to Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the fighting shows no sign of slowing down, particularly in Khan Yunis, even though Israel has already withdrawn some forces from the enclave in preparation for a protracted conflict.
The war in Gaza is “a marathon, not a single Sprint“, Regev said.
The impact of Israel's military operations against Hamas has also been felt in the West Bank, where Israel has been carrying out “preventive” security measures.
At least 2,550 people have been detained by Israel in the West Bank since October, 1,300 of them suspected of having links to Hamas.
Four people died this Tuesday after an Israeli “anti-terrorist” overnight operation near Qalqilya in the north of the occupied territories. The head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, came to warn that the territory was “exploding” because of tensions with Israel.
(with agencies)
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