Musa Abu Marzouq to Al Jazeera Net: Resistance in the West Bank is our priority and we want the Palestinian Authority to protect its back

GAZA — In light of low expectations of the chances of reaching practical steps to end the Palestinian division despite the recent meeting of Palestinian factions in the city of El Alamein, Egypt, and President Mahmoud Abbas' call for the formation of a follow-up committee to complete the dialogue, Musa Abu Marzouq, a member of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), confirmed that there are no arrangements regarding the committee that President Abbas called for its formation.

Abu Marzouq added – in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net – that the meeting of the secretaries-general "was not fruitful as required," explaining that his movement wanted the outputs of the meetings "closer to the aspirations of the Palestinian people."

Abu Marzouq stressed that the West Bank is at the core of the comprehensive resistance strategy, especially armed resistance, and is one of Hamas' priorities.

Abu Marzouq, who was a member of the Hamas delegation to the meeting of the secretaries-general in Egypt, who is currently visiting the Gaza Strip, said that Hamas will continue to communicate with the factions, "in the hope of easing internal differences, preventing clashes between the forces of our people, intensifying efforts against Israeli plans, and working to achieve unity and get out of crises," despite acknowledging that the ceiling of hopes for such meetings has declined.

The following is the text of the interview:

• What are your impressions of the meetings you had with the factions in Egypt? How did you sense the atmosphere in which those meetings took place?

We in Hamas were keen to promote national dialogue, resolve contentious issues according to dialogue and on the basis of participation rather than exclusivity, focus on what unites us, and overcome differences in order to confront the dangers that the Palestinian cause is going through.

The movement has held in-depth bilateral meetings with most of the Palestinian factions participating in the meeting of the secretaries-general, and we found an increase in the area of commonalities with the factions, and a convergence of visions and views on various issues, and these meetings took place in their entirety in a fraternal and national atmosphere, and they are within the framework of continuous communication and consultation between the movement and the factions, as the movement maintains the nature of participation in the general Palestinian affairs, and the rejection of exclusivity and exclusion, but - unfortunately - the Palestinian president's speech was specific in 3 issues, and he does not want to listen to Other opinions, namely: international legitimacy, peaceful resistance, and the unity of the PLO representation of the Palestinian people, so the meeting was not as fruitful as we wanted.

• Are there any real and practical results from those meetings in terms of arranging the internal Palestinian home and confronting the Israeli occupation?

There is a great popular desire to reach the rearrangement of the Palestinian house, and joint action to confront the occupation and its plans, and for this reason our people are always waiting for tangible results to end the division and restore unity, and when these meetings do not produce the desired results popularly, they negatively affect the morale of our people, and this is evidence of the correctness of the compass of our people.

On the other hand, the movement seeks to rearrange the Palestinian home and unite efforts to confront the Israeli occupation, which are two priorities for the movement, and the movement has made many concessions in order to achieve unity, but this issue is not linked to the will of Hamas alone, but also to the will of others, especially the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah).

As for us in Hamas, we wanted the outcomes of these meetings to be closer to the aspirations of our people, yet we continue to communicate with the factions, in the hope of easing internal differences, preventing clashes between the forces of our people, intensifying efforts against Israeli plans, and working to achieve unity and get out of the crises suffered by our people.

Perhaps these are the reasons why we should respond to the call for national dialogue or reconciliation for unity of position, and the movement has never rejected a call for unity and unity.

• At the end of the meeting of the trustees, President Mahmoud Abbas called for the formation of a follow-up committee from those who attended the meeting, and to work immediately to complete the dialogue on the various issues and files that were discussed.

There are no imminent arrangements resulting from this committee, however, there must be immediate work for this committee, as our cause does not have the luxury of time, and the time that passes without unity or agreement on a national strategy to resist the occupation is a time for us, not for us, and the enemy continues in its plans that must be curbed and its will broken.

Unfortunately, many of the outcomes of such meetings do not exceed the time they were issued.

• The various interlocutors announced that they presented their vision to end the division and arrange the Palestinian house, have you reached common factors to bring these visions closer together? What are the steps to achieve this?

In fact, we have seen that the common factors between the movement's visions and most of the factions are many, and even predominant, and this is important, but their implementation on the ground collides with Fatah's insistence on recognizing agreements that detract from the rights of our people in the name of international legitimacy, at a time when no one recognizes them internationally today.

In addition, Fatah stressed the need for all parties to participate in the PLO, which is also necessary, but difficult in light of the organization's recognition of the Israeli occupation, and we in Hamas cannot recognize the right of occupation in our land.

All factions also talked about comprehensive resistance instead of peaceful resistance, and accepted the replacement of the clause of commitment to international legitimacy with "which does not detract from any of the rights of our people," as well as calling on everyone to be a container for all components of the Palestinian people.

• How do you view the position of some factions in boycotting the meeting in Cairo, most notably Islamic Jihad? Will this have any impact on the progress of the next steps of the meeting's outputs?

Any faction has the right to determine the position it deems appropriate, and if Islamic Jihad opts for a boycott, it is its sovereign decision, but we do not allow it to be absent from the national scene, and we will maintain coordination of positions among ourselves.

However, we do not believe that boycotting is a good option in the national issue, as national meetings should not be limited to a positive atmosphere, but also in case of disagreement, but rather the first in this case to discuss differences and work to remedy them, and we have confirmed the demands of the Islamic Jihad movement to release detainees on a national basis.

• What is required in order to leave the box of declarations to actual action in the face of the difficult reality imposed by the right-wing Israeli government and the accelerating danger to the Palestinian cause?

In short, what is required is to resist the occupation and break its plans in general, and in particular in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and what does not bring resistance brings more resistance, and the important thing is that there is an authority that protects the back of these resisters, not to arrest them and disrupt their efforts, hence we emphasize the need to change the behavior of the authority, to be a truly national authority.

• There is a prevailing impression that the issue is going through a state of inability to create a gap in the current reality, and that reconciliation meetings are taking place in a vicious circle that does not exceed formalities, when can the Palestinian be optimistic about the actual possibility of ending the division?

We share these impressions with all our people, and we are working diligently to bring about change, despite our awareness of the depth of the crisis, and the fact that the failure of previous stations to achieve Palestinian reconciliation, and the exclusivity and exclusion that is happening in the management of national affairs, and the fight against those who resist the occupation, do not make us face the possibility of ending the division soon.

• What is your assessment of the escalating state of resistance in the West Bank? What are the ingredients for its continuation and the possibility of making a milestone in the course of the conflict with the occupation?

The militant cases in the West Bank, whether in Jenin or in Nablus, are an inspiring model for all the Palestinian people, for their rejection of occupation, enslavement, submission and terror of the colonizers, and we have seen how Jenin seeks freedom and independence valiantly, and has been subjected to great aggression from the ground and air forces and with a concentration of intelligence capabilities, the heroes of Jenin have achieved steadfastness and thwarted the plans of the enemy who was disappointed in this round.

The resisters also excelled in implementing combat tactics that enable them to withstand and inflict pain on the enemy, and in the end the enemy returned with unfulfilled goals, and as a result of steadfastness, all our people gained dignity and pride.

In general, the West Bank is at the core of the strategy of comprehensive resistance, especially armed resistance, and we in Hamas not only pay attention to it, but it is on the list of our priorities, as we have a rule that the proximity of achieving our national goals is directly linked to the activity and strength of the resistance in the West Bank.

The West Bank is in direct conflict with settlement plans and with the enemy, whether the army or the settler herds, and it is in the side of its main cities, so we are working to make the resistance in the West Bank uneradicable, neither from the enemy nor from the Palestinian Authority, and to always acquire tools and provide all the requirements for escalating resistance.

The meeting of the Secretaries-General will be held today, and we met yesterday with a number of factions participating in the meeting, and everyone met on the need to agree on a national program to confront the occupation and its plans in several points: pic.twitter.com/PZivafJXhc

— Dr. Mousa Abumarzook (@mosa_abumarzook) July 30, 2023

• What is the future of the Hamas-led resistance project in the Gaza Strip? What is the movement's current strategy to resist the occupation?

We will continue to maintain the resistance in the Gaza Strip, and we will continue to accumulate power with foresight, and maintain an effective and influential resistance in the scene, and we will also continue to unite the efforts of the resistance factions to be more effective, and therefore the future of the resistance project in Gaza and the rest of the Palestinian cities indicates more prosperity, and the consolidation of feet until the occupation ends.

• Are you going to calm or to escalate militarily in the Gaza Strip?

We see that there is Israeli targeting and bravado in several important files, whether in Jerusalem and the Judaization it is subjected to, or the settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the invasions and cold-blooded killing of West Bank cities, or the harassment of prisoners and our people in the occupied interior, in addition to the continued siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

• Recently, some of the living crises suffered by the residents of Gaza have escalated due to the 17-year blockade, most notably the electricity problem and the government's financial crisis in the Gaza Strip. What are your steps to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians?

Despite the steadfastness of our people in the Gaza Strip, the Gaza Strip suffers from real and painful living crises, affecting most of its population, and the largest segment is the youth, and it is no secret that the government in Gaza is being fought in its sources of funding, in order to hinder it from fulfilling its obligations towards citizens.

We are continuing to try to break this siege and dismantle its crises, and we have partially succeeded, in cooperation with our brothers in Egypt, in easing the restriction on the freedom of movement of the population as a result of the previous closure of the Rafah crossing, and we will work to improve travel conditions to suit the dignity that befits our people and sisterly Egypt.

Unfortunately, we have submitted proposals - in cooperation with regional and international partners - to solve the crisis once and for all, but the authority in Ramallah was standing in the way of that, in 2012 we agreed with the Islamic Development Bank to establish a power station on the borders of the Gaza Strip to solve the electricity problem, and the authority refused to do so.

There was also a plan to supply the power plant in Gaza with gas instead of diesel to increase its efficiency to 450 megawatts, and the arrangements were ready, but the PA was hindering this, and there is a large project for a desalination and electricity supply plant worth 450 million euros, which has been monitored and the land allocated for the project has been handed over, but the obstacles are great.

Unfortunately, our people are living in these conditions, but it is our duty to continue our efforts to solve all problems, and this is the right of our people over us.