While more than 1,600 Palestinians have been killed and another 8,000 injured and more than 200,000 internally displaced persons are sheltered in UNRWA since Israel launched an full scale air attack against the tiny strip of Gaza on July 8, yet the international community failed to stop Israeli indiscriminately offensives .

UN’s human rights council passed a resolution condemning the Israel’s military actions; resolution was adopted by 29-1 vote. The sole “no” vote was the United States. Strong US support for Israel and Israel’s powerful lobby prevented any effective decision being made by the international organizations. Same was for more than last six decades of Israel – Palestine conflict.

In such circumstance when Palestinians see none of political efforts could protect them against the well-armed regime of Israel, in the Gaza strip, they prefer to resist rather than to continue living under an inhuman blockade.

Palestinians who lost of most of their land due to Israeli occupation since 1946, now only rule in the West Bank and Gaza strip. Two separate landlocked territories with two different ruling systems.

The Gaza under Hamas has chosen military resistance to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation. On other hand, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in the West Bank recognized Israel In 1993 and accepted to stop fighting against Israel and engage in a peace process which went nowhere so far.

It was only after PLO put down its weapon that the Palestinians lost their control over the West Bank and Israel occasionally conduct crackdown in the region, arrest or kill civilians.

Looking at the West Bank as a sample of setting back from military resistance, Palestinians don’t see a successful experience while on other hand Lebanon’s Hezbollah successfully defeated Israel and ended the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territories in 2000 make resistance in Gaza more meaningful.

Like Hezbollah, Hamas is fighting Israel with military and financial support from Iran. It was Iranian missiles and arms that led Hamas to stop Israel in the 2008 and 2012 conflicts.

Despite Iran and Hamas’ strained relations over the Syrian war, Iran’s political and military officials have stressed their unconditional and strong support for Palestinian resistance groups including Hamas.

The letter of the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force to the Palestinian freedom fighters on July 31 is the latest exemplar of the support for Palestinians resistance from Iran.

“Before the almighty God, we take an oath with the martyrs that we will remain bound to and not change, just like we are and have been in doing our religious duty in supporting the resistance. We emphasize that we continue to insist on the victory of the resistance … until the ground, the sky, the sea for the Zionists turns into hell,” Qasem Soleimani wrote.

While Israel and US are trying to disarm resistance movements, Iran called on the world to help arm Palestinians in the West Bank.

“Everyone, whoever has the means, especially in the Islamic world, they should do what they can to arm the Palestinians [in the West Bank] too,” Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei said on July 29.

“Iran will also do its best to form military resistance in the West Bank. But obviously we won’t deal with Abbas and its people, we will work with real resistance groups,” Abdollahi who is familiar with the Iranian strategy in Palestine told Iran’s View.

Soleimani excluded Fatah and PA in his statement while naming Palestinian groups and leaders and praising their resistance.

But what an armed West Bank would mean for Israel?

West Bank has a population of more than 2,000,000 Palestinians who anxiously follow the events in Gaza and show their support from the resistance movement by protesting against Israel.

The photos and videos of Palestinians protesting and fighting back Israeli military by throwing stones may give one a better idea when those stones are to be replaced by weapons provided from Iran or other supporters of Palestinians freedom fighters.

In this case, Iran expects Palestinians to defend themselves against Israel in a more balanced battle.

The final solution to the Palestinian–Israeli conflict however is seen differently by Iran.
Iran suggests that all current and former inhabitants of the Palestinian territory should participate in a referendum and decide on their fate and future.

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“Forming Hezbollah was a result of enemy’s invasion to Lebanon and now, hezbollah has a [surprising] weapon that they [enemies] don’t expect,” Naghdi said during an speech to a demonstration after Tehran’s Friday prayers against recent Israeli air strikes to Syria.

“Hamas also formed in reaction to Israeli occupation of Palestine. And with god’s will, a powerful force will be established in Syria and will wipe out Israel,” he said.

Criticizing some Arab countries diplomacy with Israel, he said: “Leaders of Arab countries should know that the Muslim nations are aware and [any kind of] support from Israel will have a miserable fate for them.”

The head of Hezbollah, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, in an address televised to an audience in Beirut on Thursday said he is ready to receive “game changing” weapons from Syria.

Syria is believed to be a conduit for Iranian weapons bound for Hezbullah and Palestinian resistance groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

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In an Exclusive interview with Iran’sView, Muhammad Al-Zahar, co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip talks about the latest Hamas-Israel confrontation, the two-state or one-state solution, Egypt- Hamas ties and the Syrian crisis.

Al-Zahar believes Hamas’ 300 million dollar loss over the 8-day Israeli assault on Gaza, was the least significant outcome of the war and Israel’s liability to Palestinian missiles transformed the conflict from the Gaza borders to the heart of Israel were the most outstanding results of the war.

Hamas’ top leader does not consider the establishment of a Palestinian state at the 1967 borders “a termination of struggles for the liberation of all Occupied territories.” nor an agreement to a Two-state solution; in an interview with Iran’sView he emphasized that only “one Single State should rule Palestine.”

Al-Zahar thinks of Camp David treaty’s cancelation by Egypt as “not wise” and stresses that the Egyptians government should take advantage of other means of pressuring the Israeli regime such as halting gas exports.  He also intends to seek the reopening of Rafah’s border as well as resolving the issue of the destruction of underground tunnels, once the Egyptian government is fully established.

Regarding the Syrian crisis, the senior Palestinian leader believes Hamas holds a neutral stance where neither of the parties are supported and this has not lead to a decline in Hamas-Iran relations: “We have extensive ties with Iran of which we feel proud.”

Alzahar emphasized Hamas’ opposes any forms of military interference in Syria, and sought the talks between the government and the opposition to begin as soon as possible.

Read Iran’sView Interview with Al-Zahar in full:

With reference to Israel-Hamas latest military battle:

-What is clear is that the outcomes of the war can never be measured based on the damages; and the reports published about the losses cannot be considered the final results and consequences of the war. The outcomes of the war are divided into two particular parts. The first part is that: the influence of the Palestinian parties’ reactions and responses to Israeli attacks were immense and this was the first time that the war was transformed from Gaza borders to the heart of the occupied territories which lead the residents of the Israeli settlements to leave their homes and consequently the regime requested the impeding of Israeli settlements bombardment and suggested to cease Gaza attacks, too.

With regards to the establishment of a two-state plan and a solution to the Palestinian problem

We have never agreed with the establishment of a partial Palestinian state as a solution for the country’s problem and we emphasize our stance regarding the liberation of all occupied territories. We have agreed to this plan [of the 1967 borders] as a solution but it never means we have given up on the rights of the Palestinian nation and have withdrawn from our previous stances and this plan should be the initiator of the liberation of the remaining occupied areas. There is a big difference between political tricks and withdrawal from official stances. We have agreed with the plan as a “temporary” solution and this does not mean we have refrained from all our holy ideals and the rights of the Palestinian nation. We believe that only one state should rule all of the Palestinian Territories.

Vis-à-vis ties with Egypt, Camp David treaty and the destruction of the underground tunnels at Rafah border

Firstly I should emphasize that it was not the Muslim Brotherhood that signed the Camp David treaty. Secondly Egypt is a country with a culture which respects international agreements and treaties. On the other hand although the Camp David treaty caused a lot of problems, it has assisted Egypt in restraining Israel. This is not wise for Egypt to start an unwanted war by canceling the treaty. Egypt needs to take advantage of other measurements such as halting gas exports to Israel.

Egypt’s stances on the recent Israeli attacks against the Gaza strip, on the US and the Zionist regime is very different from those of the Mubarak regime.

The underground tunnels are used for transferring aid to Palestinians. Therefore if Egypt opens border pathways, Hamas will destroy the underground tunnels as we will not need them anymore. In the current situation there is no agreement between Hamas and Egypt regarding these tunnels and we definitely ask Cairo to fully reopen the ground borders with Gaza.

Concerning ties with Iran

It is mere rumor and baseless falsehood that Hamas has left resistance and is not as close to Iran and Syria as it used to be. We have extensive ties with Iran of which we are proud of.

About Syria our policy is that we stand neither with the government nor with the opponents. Our main struggle is to liberate Palestine and we would never want even one drop of Palestinians’ blood to be shed anywhere outside the Palestinian borders. All our policies and plans are in line with resistance and we do our best to help Muslim and Arab countries get united on the Palestinian cause.  When the Syrian crisis had just started we announced that we would only support a political solution and we are against any forms of military intervention in the country. The talks between the Syrian parties would be initiated as soon as possible and the international community should support it.

On Palestine’s domestic affairs and Hamas internal conflicts

There is a very big difference between the national peace agreements signed in Qatar and Egypt. In the signed plan in Cairo, it was decided that the prime minister should be impartial and that the Palestinian government should be established as one technocrat state whereas in Qatar agreement it was agreed that “Mahmoud Abbas”, the head of the Palestinian Authority would be chosen as the Palestinian prime minister. Of course this part of the agreement is negotiable and changeable and we can reach an agreement over that in the future.

 This is true that we have internal disagreements in Hamas, but this does not mean Hamas is divided into parties and is not united. Each member’s opinion is respected. News about Hamas being divided and the members trying to form an independent party outside Palestine, is untruthful. Different opinions should be respected.

The post Senior Palestinian Leader Says Hamas is Neutral in Syrian Crisis first appeared on .

The Israeli soldiers detained the Hamas activists, including a former Hamas spokesman, Rafat Nassif, in the city of Nablus and the town of Tulkarem, according to Palestinian security sources. 

The Israeli military, however, said it “arrested” only five activists in Tulkarem, without giving further details. 

Earlier last week, Israeli troops abducted over 25 Palestinians, including several senior Hamas legislators, in the occupied West Bank. 

Palestinian lawmaker Hatim Qafisha from al-Khalil and another legislator Ahmad Attoun from al-Quds (Jerusalem) were among the abductees. 

Palestinian human rights groups have condemned the abductions, saying the move is aimed at destabilizing the ongoing reconciliation efforts among Palestinian factions.

Many of the inmates are under so-called administrative detention. 

The administrative detention, often implemented by the Israeli regime against the Palestinian population, is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge, allowing regime forces to make arrests without formal charges for up to six months. However, the detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time. 

Palestinian prisoners have been subject to human rights violations such as the use of torture during interrogations by Israeli prison authorities.

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