Hamas stresses resistance among best ways to stop Israeli normalization

  Head of political bureau of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh made the remarks in an address to a conference themed “United against Normalization,” which was held to show the Arab peoples’ popular rejection of normalization with the Israeli regime on Saturday evening. Haniyeh highlighted three other ways to counter normalization of ties with Israel, in addition to comprehensive resistance against the Israeli occupation. The second way, he said, is agreeing on a national political program that ignores the Oslo Accords, which were signed between the Israeli regime and the Palestine Liberation organization (PLO) during the early-mid 1990s to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to guarantee the Palestinians’ right of self-determination. The top Hamas official further said restoring unity among Palestinian factions is the third way to tackle some Arab countries’ forging of ties with the Tel Aviv regime.   Haniyeh noted that strengthening partnership with Arab and the Muslim Ummah, along with the free people of the world, is other necessary step to face normalization deals with Israel. He also explained that what happened in the Arab countries in the aftermath of normalization with Israel highlighted the Arab and Islamic people’s common-sense understanding that they reject normalizing ties or any relations with the Israeli occupation.     “The track of normalization with the Israeli occupation has exposed the extent of Israeli penetration into Arab regimes; what makes this track dangerous is that it’s based on a scheme to remap the region and integrate the Israeli occupation,” Haniyeh said.   On September 15, 2020, former US president Donald Trump hosted a White House ceremony, where Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed normalization agreements with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani.