Jerusalem Post – Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday called for an uprising in the the West Bank and Jerusalem in response to US President Donald Trump’s decisions to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and set in motion a process to relocate the US embassy in Israel to the city.
“Tomorrow, December 8, 2017, should be a day of rage and the beginning of a major effort to rise up, which I will name the intifada of Jerusalem and the West Bank’s freedom,” Haniyeh said in a televised speech. “As we liberated Gaza, we are able… to free Jerusalem and the West Bank by the way of this popular struggle.”
In a speech at the White House on Wednesday, Trump recognized Israel and initiated a process to relocate the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
However, the American president added he was not taking a position on the final status of Jerusalem, which he said the parties would have to decide in future peace talks.
Haniyeh also said that Palestinian militants should be “empowered to operate” in the West Bank to respond to Trump’s decisions.
Since Hamas forcibly ousted the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority from Gaza in 2007, the Palestinian Authority security forces have cracked down on Hamas and other group’ military infrastructure in the West Bank and undermined its sources of funding.
Meanwhile, the IDF has also targeted militant groups’ activities in the West Bank and arrested Hamas members allegedly planning attacks against Israel.
In his speech, Haniyeh added that the Palestinian people needs to overcome its differences and unite for the sake of Jerusalem.
“We are a people in one boat. The time has come for us to be strong in this boat, hold onto each other, push each other forward, unite, and stand together… We need to quickly overcome all the issues and details in order to turn our attention to Jerusalem and al-Aksa.”
In mid-October, Abbas’s party Fatah and Hamas signed a deal to advance reconciliation efforts and restore the PA’s governing authority in the Gaza Strip, but have since struggled to implement the agreement.
PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and other Fatah delegates arrived in Gaza on Thursday to meet Hamas officials.
“This historical stage requires that we all unite and speed up the steps of uniting the homeland,” Hamdallah told reporters.
Haniyeh also urged Arab and Muslim-majority states to announce a boycott the Trump administration.
Many Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt have close ties with the US and almost certainly will not cut their ties with the Trump administration over its decisions on Jerusalem.
In addition, Haniyeh declared that the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians is over and called on the PA to adopt such a perspective.
“Today, we clearly announce that what is called the the peace process was buried one time and forever,” the top Hamas leader said. “I say to my brothers in the PA that we must have a clear position… that we are leaving the tunnel of Oslo… through which we have experienced pain and suffering.”
Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Wednesday said Trump’s decisions “destroyed any possibility of two states.”
