According to the head of the Palestinian Islamist organization in Lebanon, Hamas would not recognize a puppet government in the Gaza Strip and will continue to hold the territory. This was stated on Monday.
In reprisal for Hamas’ October 7 attack, which Israeli officials claim claimed at least 1,400 lives, Israel has declared its intention to eliminate the organization.
“To those who think that Hamas will disappear, Hamas will remain entrenched in the conscience of our people, and no force on Earth can annihilate or marginalize it,” Osama Hamdan said at a news conference.
The top Hamas official claimed that Israel’s ally, the United States, intended to usurp its authority in Gaza, drawing comparisons between that action and Nazi Germany’s occupation of a French puppet state in World War II.
“Our people will not allow the United States to impose its plans to create an administration that suits it and that suits the occupation (Israel), and our people will not accept a new Vichy government,” he declared.
The health ministry operated by Hamas claims that over 10,000 people have died as a result of the Israeli army’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip and deployment of ground forces.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated before Congress on Tuesday that control of the Gaza Strip should “at some point” be turned over to the Palestinian Authority (PA), headed by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.
According to Blinken, there’s a chance that foreign parties will be involved in the meantime.
Furthermore, on Sunday, Abbas, whose Fatah party opposes Hamas, declared that “the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the State of Palestine.”
Hamas drove the PA out of Gaza in 2007.
“We will fully assume our responsibilities within the framework of a comprehensive political solution that includes all of the West Bank, including east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip”—the regions that the PA suggests belonged to a Palestinian state—Abbas declared during Blinken’s visit to Ramallah.
Only a portion of the occupied West Bank is under PA jurisdiction; Israel has annexed east Jerusalem, and Hamas controls Gaza.
In 1967, Israel took control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The last parliamentary elections in Palestine were held in 2006 when Hamas emerged victorious.
Though victorious, the Islamist faction was unable to wield any authority, and in 2007 it began its bloody occupation of Gaza, overthrowing the PA’s security apparatus.
