Only armed resistance will liberate Palestine

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh told an audience in Tehran on Sunday that only armed resistance would liberate Palestinian land, and that a two-state solution with a Palestinian state existing side-by-side with Israel would fail.

Haniyeh, whose comments were transmitted to a video conference in the Iranian capital, said that only Intifada, or armed resistance, is capable of liberating "occupied Palestinian land" and "restoring the rights" of the Palestinian people.

Haniyeh continued to doubt Palestinian Authority efforts to work with the international community to gain recognition for a Palestinian state, saying that a two-state solution as recommended by the European Union and the United States was a fallacy, and insisted that it would fail.

The Hamas leader said that negotiations were a "mirage," and that only through armed resistance could Jerusalem and "the land" be liberated.

He urged Palestinian negotiators not to make any settlements given their failure to "restore the rights" of the Palestinian people, including the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

Haniyeh has been consistently critical of the Palestinian Authority's efforts at the United Nations to gain state recognition, saying that "liberation" of the land comes before the "state."

The Hamas leader has dismissed the UN, saying the international body is "controlled by the Americans and others," and that its political orientation is "not beneficial."

Source: JPost