Hamas calls for ‘armed struggle' to liberate West Bank from Israeli occupation
A senior Hamas leader has called on other Palestinian groups in the occupied West Bank to join hands and start an armed struggle against the Israeli occupation.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, a co-founder of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas and a member of the group's leadership in the Gaza Strip, says all Palestinian groups must follow the successful model implemented in the liberation of the Gaza Strip, namely armed struggle, in order to counter Tel Aviv's expansionist policies in the West Bank.
Speaking to the Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen on Thursday, al-Zahar said the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) must stop implementing its Oslo Accords with the Israeli regime, and take up arms against the occupiers.
Hamas is going to ask for the cooperation of the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah movement in order to have new principles and mechanisms devised, he said.
The top Hamas official said based on new principles, a plan must be developed for the real liberation of Palestine, similar to the plan that resulted in Gaza's liberation through armed resistance.
On Thursday, in a show of unity, senior officials from Fatah and Hamas held a joint press conference that is the first of its kind in several years.
Jibril Rajoub, Fatah Secretary General from Ramallah, and Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas deputy chief from Beirut, vowed in a video conference to unite efforts in fighting Israel’s plan to annex parts of the occupied West bank, including parts of the strategic Jordan Valley.
July 1 was set by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to start annexation of parts of the West Bank but Tel Aviv failed to launch the scheme on the set date amid differences between Netanyahu and key members of his cabinet, whose consent the White House says is needed for the annexation to go ahead.
Netanyahu’s office announced that he will continue to discuss the plan with the US administration.
The announcement came shortly after Hamas fired a volley of rockets into the sea as a serious “warning” against the annexation plan.
According to the Palestinian Samanews, a barrage of 20 rockets was launched within an hour.
Palestinian resistance groups have declared their resolve to stand up to the Israeli occupation and the regime's expansionism.
US President Donald Trump gave Tel Aviv the green light for the land grab in his self-proclaimed “deal of the century,” which was unveiled in January with the aim of legitimizing Israel’s occupation and re-drawing the Middle East map.