After intense negotiations with the American administration, the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu decided to postpone the annexation of lands in the occupied West Bank indefinitely, a plan that pushed the resistance to mobilize with all possible means of pressure.
The Israeli government was to begin annexing parts of occupied Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, and all the settlements in the occupied West Bank for its sovereignty - which is equivalent to about 30% of the area of the West Bank - on July 1.
Netanyahu's plan to annex the West Bank - which is part of US President Donald Trump's vision of peace known as the American Peace Plan - faces strong Palestinian rejection and broad international opposition, and in addition, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz - a key partner in the coalition government - is at odds with Netanyahu over The timing of any unilateral move to annex lands.
As the events accelerated, Al Jazeera Net met Khalil Al Hayya, a member of the Political Bureau and Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip, to see the position of the movement and the Palestinian resistance factions on this plan, and the following is the text of the dialogue:
There has been much talk recently about an Israeli annexation of lands in the West Bank. Can you briefly explain to the readers the details of the plan? How will it affect the Palestinians?
The occupation seeks to annex about 30% of the West Bank lands, as this area constitutes 3 important parts of the West Bank. The first is settlement blocs such as Jabal Abu Ghneim or what is known as Ma'aleh Adumim in Jerusalem and the Ariel settlement. These settlements are distributed between the south, central and north of the West Bank, especially In the Jerusalem area, where the West Bank has been transformed into isolated cantons and islands, thus preventing Palestinian population contact, as well as being built on citizens ’lands.
As for the second part, it is the Jordan Valley, which is the largest plain in the West Bank, and it includes the area north of Jericho along the borders of the Jordan River, and thus cuts off any geographical communication between Palestine and Jordan and prevents Palestine from its water reservoir and agricultural land, while the third region is the Palestinian countryside and fertile Palestinian agricultural lands and inhabits it 400 thousand Palestinians.
And the occupation wants to annex the best and most strategic areas in the West Bank, even if the price is to oppose international laws, confiscate the Palestinian right to establish a Palestinian state, displace half a million Palestinians from their land, or deny them access to population.
And if the occupation in 48 took control of 78% of the land of Palestine, then today he wants to complete what remains, especially since an important part of these lands is either in the vicinity of Jerusalem (Greater Jerusalem) or in the vicinity of major cities or on the border with Jordan, and thus the natural extension and expansion For cities stop, and communication with the nation depends.
In short, the annexation plan is a new aggression to occupy the Palestinian people on the road to displacing and judaizing Jerusalem and stealing more Palestinian lands.
The Israeli government postponed the decision to annex lands from the West Bank, in your opinion: Why did Tel Aviv take this step? Does this mean that the plan will ultimately fail?
It is clear that the occupation did not expect the Palestinian reaction at all from this plan, and it was met with 3 levels of rejection. First, the unified Palestinian rejection and the ensuing Palestinian scene that included all Palestinian forces, was supported by the position of the Qassam Brigades, which spoke in clear language towards this step, and accompanied it A political position on Hamas clearly and strongly.
This Palestinian position has also led to a rejecting Arab position and a rejecting international position. Consequently, the occupation found itself on an island of opposition and rejection, even the American position was not unanimous in annexation, nor did it constitute the attribution of the situation that the occupation expected under the circumstances that the American President Donald is going through. Trump today and the presidential struggle.
This is in addition to the internal struggle in the entity as well, as the occupation suffers from a political difference over the annexation decision: its size and timing, all of which led to the freezing of this step, perhaps after the American presidential elections.
However, we say that the occupation has not explicitly announced the non-implementation of the annexation plan, and therefore we will continue our work in the face of the occupation's decision to annex and steal the land, and the Palestinian people will demonstrate in it their ability to impose their will and preserve their land.
With American support and Arab silence, do the Palestinians have any cards to stop the Israeli plan?
Certainly our people have a lot of pressure tools, the first of which is as we said the unified position or to transfer the unity of the Palestinian position, which is a very important point because the occupation in the past was betting on the Palestinian division and difference and the willingness of one side always to negotiate and reach compromises, so there is no legitimacy to any step of the occupation, This leads to encouraging all those who refuse to stick to this position, especially at the level of the region or the international community.
The second point is the Palestinian people, who have always been up to the challenge and can impose their will, and have the power, aggression, power and ability to change many paths and plans.
The third and most important point is the readiness of the resistance to enter into a confrontation with the occupation to protect and defend the rights of the Palestinian people, and it has proven bold and steadfast, as well as the ability to force the occupation and lower it from previous decisions, and is able to repeat this, God willing.
Do you have any communication or coordination with the Palestinian Authority to counter the Israeli plan?
Contacts began with the brothers in Fatah before the press conference between the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement, Gabriel Rajoub, and Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of Hamas. New, but joint work, and if the relationship developed, we will try to solve the outstanding issues.
Have you contacted Arab or Western countries or international organizations to convey the Palestinian viewpoint or to coordinate with it on the issue of annexation? What are the most prominent responses that you received?
The movement moved on 3 main levels that formed the confrontational plan for the Zionist annexation project, the first was the unity of the Palestinian position, and from here came extensive meetings with leaders of the Palestinian forces, including the Fatah movement, and this culminated in 3 main scenes, the first: the national conference in Gaza and in which it participated All forces, then the joint march on July 1, then the joint press conference with Fatah.
The second track: It is the comprehensiveness of the confrontation in the arenas and means. Hence, there were some sit-ins and protests in Lebanon and some European countries, and some activities, such as those that took place in Jordan, were urged.
The third track: Communication with Arab and Western countries. The head of the movement’s political bureau contacted Arab leaders and leaders and sent about 40 messages to world leaders, including messages for the Arab League and messages to Arab parties and nationalities. The movement has reached many positions that reject the Israeli project, among them The Lebanese position, the Iranian position, and the positions of many important parties in the Arab world.
In a previous statement, you said that the resistance is ready to do everything necessary to deflect the occupation from its plans, so what is the movement's plan to confront the annexation project?
We in Hamas consider the resistance the strategic choice of the Palestinian people to confront the occupation. As long as there is an occupation, there is an active resistance that grows and strengthens to confront it.
We believe that these messages reached clear and strong to all parties, and they were an important and major part of the scene we are watching and following.
A Qassam spokesman considered implementing the annexation plan a declaration of war on the Palestinians. Does this mean a new war in Gaza? Does the besieged sector bear the consequences of a new war?
The means of resistance are multiple, and their capabilities are high. We are no longer the one who suffers alone from any confrontation. The occupation today expects to find what it did not expect previously, and every day we can increase its pain if it decides to engage in new attacks on our people, political or field.
Away from the annexation plan, a number of Hamas leaders recently spoke about a prisoner exchange deal. Is there a development in this file? What are the main obstacles to the delay in the deal?
So far, there is no serious progress in the matter, and the occupation bears responsibility for freezing the exchange file, due to its unwillingness to pay the price.
The West Bank annexed part of the Trump peace plan, or the so-called "deal of the century". Did you monitor the application of the occupation by other parts of the plan?
The occupation has tried to implement fully the deal, including in the issue of Jerusalem and work to Judaize it, divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque and end the refugee issue, but we are addressing all these issues and we can say that failure is chasing the occupation in all these files, and this is caused by the Palestinian awakening on the one hand and it is The millstone, and the second, that every century deal violates the international consensus and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, and an attempt to create positions contrary to logic, truth, morals and values, and thus doomed to failure.
After years of estrangement, is the current status of the Palestinian issue not a strong impetus for national unity? Have you taken steps to converge with the authority and the Fatah movement?
Certainly, which is what we seek, and we have said that the conference was just a step or a spark to start, and we seek more communication and joint work to achieve the required convergence that must be based on partnership and respect for national consensus and holding a scheduled national leadership meeting in which we solve all issues that can be Hiccups, with the aim of rebuilding the PLO on the basis of democracy and true partnership rules.
For years the residents of the Gaza Strip have been living a hard life under the Israeli blockade. Do the movement - which effectively controls the Strip - have any plans to improve the lives of the residents?
The occupation is the reason for the suffering of our people because of its blockade and its behavior in various fields.
We made great efforts in all directions, and we value the efforts made by many parties to lift the siege and support the steadfastness of our people, especially the brothers in Qatar, and we will continue to make every effort to force the occupation to lift the siege.