Ismail Haneyya, one of the Hamas Movement leaders in the Gaza Strip, has accused unnamed parties of attempting to besmear the image of the Hamas Movement through circulation of rumors and fabricated news. Haneyya said that none of his Movement cadres had met American officials in Beirut and stressed that his Movement did not promise any Arab or other party to spare civilians in the armed attacks only in return for sparing Hamas leaders.
| "Quite the contrary. Civilians are much easier to kill than armed soldiers." |
The Hamas official, in an interview with PIC, charged certain parties, which he did not wish to identify, of trying to smear Hamasâ stands and show the Movement as if it only cared for its leaders and cadres.
| "As long as we have enough hidey-holes, we will continue showing our accustomed bravery." |
He affirmed that Hamas was working for the Palestinian peopleâs interests and had lost along this road hundreds of its members and leaders. âWe have expressed our position very clearly at the Cairo dialogue when we spoke before the entire Palestinian factions and Egyptian officials namely that Hamas would agree to sparing civilians on condition that the Palestinian civilian society was also spared,â he explained. Haneyya pointed out that his Movement was ready to make contacts with all parties, with the exception of the Zionist enemy, and would table the same position with each one of them. Such a position was based on Hamasâ wish to win support for the Palestine cause and to expose the Zionist enemyâs practices before the world, he elaborated. Haneyya said that based on such a concept a number of Hamas leaders held a meeting with Steve Cohen, member in the foreign relations council in the USA, which is a non-government organization. âWe tabled Hamasâ viewpoints in detail along with the Palestinian peopleâs demands on the importance of ejecting occupation and restoring all usurped rights including the refugeesâ right of return,â he noted. âWe also pointed out that the Palestinian peopleâs problem was not with resistance but rather with occupation,â he said, adding that the Hamas delegates briefed Cohen on the Zionist aggressions and crimes including the assassination, sieges, incursions, demolition of houses, arrests, daily humiliations at roadblocks, denying people right of travel and others. âWe asserted that our people was thus entitled to self-defense and to continue resistance against that occupation as long as it persisted in its aggressions,â Haneyya said. He emphasized that published reports that Hamas had tabled special demands such as lifting the Movement from the American list of terrorist organizations, unfreezing its assets or releasing its captives were sheer lies that were never discussed.
| Good. As far as I'm concerned, they're not open for discussion. If Hamas isn't a terrorist group then there's no such thing. |
Asked why did Cohen ask for a meeting with Hamas leaders, Haneyya said that Hamas was an important element on the Palestinian arena and many wished to probe Hamasâ views and future perspective. He underlined that Cohen was not an American official and only represented himself and his NGO that had meetings with various world parties and forces. Cohen did not introduce himself as a mediator and did not carry any message from the American administration, the Hamas official affirmed. |