BREAKING : HAMAS OFFICIAL STATEMENT

Sulaiman Ahmed

@ShaykhSulaiman
BREAKING : HAMAS OFFICIAL STATEMENT

“We received with strong condemnation the statement issued by the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Mr. Philippe Lazzarini, in which he announced the agency’s decision to terminate the contracts of a number of UNRWA employees in Gaza based on “Zionist information about the alleged involvement of these employees in the events of October 7th.”

Therefore, we in the Hamas movement affirm the following:

First: We strongly condemn the termination of employee contracts based on information derived from the Zionist enemy, and the statement confirms that these are allegations without completing all the requirements of a fair and impartial investigation.

Second: We strongly condemn the statement’s description of our people’s resistance as terrorism or hateful acts because it is not the agency’s role to announce political positions on the conflict, and the political position that UNRWA must adopt, according to the mandate given to it, is to defend the rights of the refugees it represents, first and foremost. Their right to protection and to resist the occupation by all available means, as well as their right to return to the homes from which they were forcibly displaced.

Third: The Palestinians, including refugees, in the Gaza Strip, were subjected to Zionist terrorist attacks that amounted to genocide, according to the assessment of the International Court of Justice, in which more than 150 UNRWA employees were killed. UNRWA headquarters and displacement centers were also exposed, the most recent of which was the industrial center in Khan Yunis, which was designated as a safe haven. Thousands of residents were subjected to Zionist bombing, and despite all this, UNRWA did not issue explicit statements or positions accusing the Zionist enemy of terrorism and hateful attacks.

Fourth: The agency’s call for the release of prisoners held by the resistance is an interference in what does not concern it and is not within its authority nor within the mandate granted to it. Moreover, it did not demand at the same time the immediate release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in enemy prisons, most of whom are refugees, some of whom have been spending decades behind bars.

Fifth: It is clear that UNRWA has been subjected to blackmail by countries that support Zionist terrorism under the pretext of continuing financial support, as the Commissioner’s statement makes clear, and this is what we have repeatedly warned against.

The refugee issue is not a financial issue but rather an issue of political rights and should not be subject to blackmail by any party. The international community, which created the Palestinian refugee problem, must bear its responsibilities in solving their problem by ensuring their return, and until then, they enjoy protection and a decent life.

Sixth: We call on UNRWA to immediately reverse its decision and adhere to the mandate granted to it by the international community, and we adhere to the rights of our people who work in UNRWA and their right to resort to the judiciary – wherever available – to stop the injustice they are being subjected to.

Seventh: We call on the agency’s management to immediately return to work in all areas of the Gaza Strip, not to respond to Zionist pressure, and to assume its legal and humanitarian responsibilities towards hundreds of thousands of refugees who are dying due to lack of food, water, and medicine, especially in the northern Gaza Strip.

Our heroic people are fighting their glorious battle for freedom and independence. They will move forward on this path despite the great prices and great sacrifices they pay.”