On Wednesday, al-Hayya told Al-Aksa TV that Hamas maintained its demand that a hostage deal would include a permanent ceasefire.
By MAARIV ONLINE, JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: APRIL 25, 2024 11:00Hamas officials, Khalil Al-Hayya and Osama Hamdan, attend a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, November 21, 2023.(photo credit: REUTERS/ESA ALEXANDER)
Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said on Thursday in an interview with the Associated Press (AP) that the terrorist organization is ready to agree to a five-year ceasefire and to disarm itself if an independent Palestinian state is established within the pre-1967 borders.
Al-Hayya is the Deputy Chairman of Hamas in Gaza.
On Wednesday, al-Hayya told Al-Aksa TV that Hamas maintained its demand that a hostage deal would include a permanent ceasefire.
To the AP, Al-Hayya added that Hamas is interested in receiving “a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with international decisions.”
“All the experiences of groups who fought against occupiers, when they became independent and got their rights and their country, what did these forces do? They became political parties, and their protective fighting forces became the national army,” he added.
Hamas politburo member Khalil al-Hayya attends a news conference in Damascus, Syria October 19, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/YAMAM AL SHAAR)
As a reminder, a senior Hamas official told The New Arab Wednesday night that the leader of the terrorist organization, Yahya Sinwar, recently came out of the tunnels on several occasions and met people in the area.
Sinwar not isolated
“Sinwar is not isolated from the reality there, despite the ongoing war and the Israeli intelligence operations that do not stop throughout the day. The discussion around him being isolated in the tunnels is nothing more than a claim on Netanyahu’s part to cover up his failure to achieve the goals announced to the Israeli public and its allies. Sinwar performs his work as a leader of the movement in the Strip”, said the source.
Khalil al-Hayya speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, who in October said that the goal of the October 7 massacres in southern Israel was to plunge the entire region into war, claims that Hamas would disband its military wing if a Palestinian state were to be established along pre-1967 borders.
In an interview with AP, the Qatar-based Hamas politburo official says that the terrorist organization would be willing to lay down its weapons and dissolve the al-Qassam Brigades “should a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip” be implemented.
His claim, however, directly contradicts the 2017 Hamas charter, which asserts that the Palestinian people are deserving of the entirety of the land “which extends from the River Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean in the west and from Ras al-Naqurah in the north to Umm al-Rashrash in the south.”
Al-Hayya does not say whether his apparent embrace of a two-state solution would amount to an end to the Palestinian conflict with Israel or an interim step toward the terror group’s stated goal of destroying Israel.
The Hamas official also tells AP that the terror group doesn’t regret the October 7 terror assault, despite the destruction it has brought on Gaza and its people.
In an interview with The New York Times in the immediate aftermath of October 7, when some 1,200 people in southern Israel were slaughtered by invading Hamas terrorists, al-Hayya said that the goal of the assault was to “change the entire equation,” and to ensure that “no one in the region is experiencing calm.”
“This battle was not because we wanted fuel or laborers,” Al-Hayya said at the time. “It did not seek to improve the situation in Gaza. This battle is to completely overthrow the situation.”
Iran’s missile attack on Israel sparks regional tensions, amplifying internal oppression and calls for international action against the regime.
By DR. IMAN FOROUTAN/THE MEDIA LINEMissile fire from Iran on April 14, 2024, as seen from Ashkelon(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) missile attack on Israel on April 13-14, 2024, has escalated tensions in the Middle East and will possibly lead to a regional war.
The result of this attack was to achieve at least two objectives: (1) to respond to the criticism of Iran’s supporters regarding the IRGC’s inaction and to promote the Islamic Republic’s position as a champion of fundamentalists and (2) to suppress internal opposition inside Iran under the guise of a wartime emergency.
Immediately after the missile attacks on Israel, the Islamic Republic launched domestic attacks against Iranian women who refused to wear the mandatory hijab; this crackdown is a clear indication of the real objectives of the missile attack.
In addition, the celebration of pro-Hamas groups in America and Europe following the missile attacks, with slogans of death to America, shows the success of the Islamic Republic in positioning itself as the champion of antisemitism. Since its establishment in 1979, the Islamic Republic has made the destruction of Israel its central mantra, considering the deep hatred that Islamic fundamentalists have for Jews.
The Islamic Republic has established and financed a network of Islamic zealots who are prepared for jihad against the infidels. This network serves to prevent foreign attacks on Iran while suppressing domestic opposition.
The ruling ayatollahs of Iran know very well that they lack popular support at home. Over time, their existence has relied on the support of outside proxy forces beyond Iran’s borders, from Central Asia to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Iran’s regional expansion
The S-300 missile system is seen during the National Army Day parade ceremony in Tehran, Iran, April 17, 2024. (credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters)
Realizing the reluctance of Western powers to take action that endangers their respective interests, the IRGC has used these proxy forces to expand the range of Iran’s influence even further. Through them, the Islamic Republic has repeatedly threatened commercial ships in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and even American military bases in the region.
For the past 45 years, an Iranian renaissance has evolved into the most secular democracy with one of the most Westernized people in the region. The Islamic Republic cannot govern this population unless the country is in a permanent state of war, and those in power have shown by words and deeds that they are masters of creating international conflicts at the cost of the Iranian people and other democratic countries.
Achieving peace in the Middle East, eliminating the threat to Israel’s existence, and curbing the global wave of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism requires a coalition of the willing. Removing the Islamic Republic, ideally by the Iranian people, would be the best option.
Over the past 45 years, Western powers have pursued failed policies of appeasement aimed at changing the behavior of the Islamic Republic. The time has come for Western democracies to stand in solidarity with the people of Iran and adopt policies aimed at ending the existence of the Islamic Republic in occupied Iran.
It is the responsible act of the world to hear the voices of innocent, decent, and peace-loving people in Iran and help them put an end to the reign of ayatollahs.
The New Iran strongly condemns the Islamic Republic’s missile attack on Israel and invites Western democracies and Iran’s regional neighbors to form an active coalition to lend moral and material support to the Iranian people to end the evil existence of the Islamic Republic.
Enough is enough! Either we are with the terrorist regime of Iran or with the peace-loving and secular people of Iran. These are the two fundamental choices before the world!
Dr. Iman Foroutan is chairman of the Board of Trustees and executive director of The New Iran.
