The enemy’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has stipulated that Hamas must surrender its weapons and its brave men and their families must leave the Gaza Strip, as a condition to ending the war. The enemy has failed over the past 18 years of brutal war and destruction of everything in the Gaza Strip, as well as the genocide they are committing against the people of Gaza, to achieve their goals of the war, i.e., eliminating the Resistance and returning their captives. They only managed the latter partly after reaching an agreement with Hamas. Now, they want to achieve, through peaceful means, what their army, with its huge military arsenal, has been unable to achieve. Hamas will never submit to them; it will continue to fight them until its last breath. These Zionists have learned nothing from history, and their arrogance, smugness and unlimited American support has made them believe they can dictate their terms to the owners of the land.
If the resistance against the Occupier ceases, which will not happen as long as the Zionist enemy continues to occupy the land, then what homeland would we be talking about? What would remain of the homeland? What remains of the destroyed Gaza Strip? What remains of the land of Palestine? As the late Hassan Hamdan said, “You are not defeated as long as you resist.” Resistance is a legitimate right guaranteed in the UN Charter and by all international norms and constitutions.
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It is unfortunate and sad to find some Arab and Palestinian voices calling on Hamas to surrender their weapons in order to stop the bloodshed and live in peace. I do not understand. Are these people naïve fools who believe the Israeli deception and believe that disarming the Resistance is the solution and an escape from this ongoing tragedy? Are they that ignorant? Don’t they know that their enemy is a treacherous, aggressive enemy who cannot be trusted? Have they not tried this in the last 77 years since the enemy’s Occupation of Palestine and the establishment of its entity on its land?
Or are they agents working day and night to promote this deception on social media, so that the people of Gaza, who are the most affected and hurt among Palestinians, will accept it?
Hamas has realised the danger and evil behind these calls, and was quick to announce, through its leader, Sameh Abu Zahra, “The movement’s weapons are a red line, and we will not accept surrendering our weapons in exchange for reconstruction or the entry of aid. Weapons are not to be used as a bargaining chip and are not up for negotiation.”
The forces supporting the Zionist entity believe they can create a new reality by wiping the Arab memory, creating a new Arab conscience through the media, and misguiding the compass by proposing these defeatist calls and surrendering initiatives. Constantly repeating these calls has made them a fait accompli, subject to debate and used as a political threat, along with military pressure, in the hope of implementing them on the ground.
I only need to recall the aftermath of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000. The enemy army invaded the West Bank despite the ill-fated Oslo Accords, and the Muqata’a headquarters was besieged in 2002. President Yasser Arafat remained inside until he was assassinated through poisoning. The situation remains the same today in the West Bank, where there are no rockets, attacks or anything threatening the occupying entity. Nevertheless, military operations have continuously taken place there for the past several months.
There is an abundance of historical evidence in this regard, and anyone who thinks that the continuation of the war is due to the Resistance factions in Gaza holding on to their weapons is ignorant. The moment they surrender their weapons, Gaza will be completely wiped off the map and annihilated. The Zionist enemy’s project is based on displacement, expulsion, changing the features of the region and building a new Middle East, as Netanyahu has stated. This project is currently being implemented and has nothing to do with keeping or surrendering weapons. When it comes to this Israeli project or dream, the two are equal, and we pray that this dream is never achieved.
They want to completely eliminate the Palestinian cause and create a new geographic map in which Israel will expand and control all Arab countries, or rather, the entire Middle East. Accordingly, a path must be paved for expansion at the expense of the rest of the Arab countries. Didn’t the US President Donald Trump say, “When you look at the map, a map of the Middle East, Israel is a tiny little spot compared to these giant land masses. I actually said: ‘Is there any way of getting more?’”
Anyone who believes that Hamas will agree to surrender its weapons is delusional. Its combat charter is victory or martyrdom. Before his martyrdom in 1935, Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam said that surrendering weapons is an attack on the principles and intellectual and ideological foundations of Al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas.
The Resistance will remain steadfast, wielding its weapons in the face of the Zionist enemy, and the Zionist enemy will not be able to seize its weapons.
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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.