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Hamas criticises PA minister over call to disarm
Hamas has condemned reported remarks by Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin calling for the disarmament of Palestinian resistance groups, saying such statements “do not serve our people or national interests”.
In a statement, the group said resistance and its weapons are a “national right” as long as Israel’s occupation continues, and can only be relinquished with the full restoration of Palestinian rights and the establishment of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Hamas said it was “astonished” these comments came as Israel wages a “brutal genocide” in Gaza and advances illegal settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
The group urged Palestinian Authority leadership to retract such statements and stand with the Palestinian people and groups in resisting Israeli plans “aimed at erasing our people and seizing our land”.
Israel likely eying ‘additional land beyond Palestinian territories’
Netanyahu’s declared vision for a “greater Israel” is predictable given the longstanding rhetoric from his Likud party and broader Zionist ideology, says Mohamed Elmasry, professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
“This is something deeply rooted. If you go back to early Zionist founders, they based their conception of the land of Israel on a Biblical definition, which was not just from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, but actually from the Euphrates River in Iraq to the Nile River in Egypt,” Almasry told Al Jazeera.
Netanyahu’s Likud party, he explained, “has adopted a greater Israel slogan since 1977. So this is something that’s very deeply rooted within Zionism and within Israeli politics. It’s also something that’s popular inside of Israel, so it’s certainly not surprising to see Israel pushing for this kind of greater Israel vision.”
Elmasry said Israel has been “encroaching upon Palestinian land” in the occupied West Bank for decades and now have their sights set on Gaza “and probably additional land beyond the Palestinian territories”.
UAE condemns Netanyahu’s ‘Greater Israel’ remarks
The United Arab Emirates has condemned statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the so-called “Greater Israel vision”, which included Israel taking territory outside of its current borders, calling them a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter.
In a statement, the UAE Foreign Ministry reiterated its rejection of any threat to the sovereignty of Arab states, and urged members of Israel’s government to stop making provocative statements.
The ministry also called for an end to all illegal settlement and expansion plans, warning they threaten regional stability and undermine prospects for peace.
