W niedawnych wypowiedziach i przemówieniach Jahja Al-Sinwar, szef biura politycznego Hamasu w Gazie, i Zijad Al-Nachalah, sekretarz generalny Palestyńskiego Islamskiego Dżihadu (PIJ), grozili nowymi starciami z Izraelem i chwalili Iran za poparcie dla ich organizacji. Niektóre z tych wypowiedzi wygłosili na wiecu zorganizowanym w Gazie przez palestyńskie frakcje z okazji Dnia Kuds, dorocznego wydarzenia, które zapoczątkował reżim irański i które odbywa się w ostatni piątek ramadanu.
W tym momencie wypowiedzi przywódców Hamasu i PIJ, które podkreślają wsparcie Iranu i jego wkład w ich możliwości walki, są czymś więcej niż groźbą skierowaną do Izraela. Stanowią groźne przesłanie z Iranu, przekazane przez jego pełnomocników, do USA i sojuszników wobec braku postępów w kontaktach przez pośredników między Iranem a USA w kwestii nuklearnej.
Jako część tych grożących komunikatów przywódca Hamasu w Gazie, Al-Sinwar, podkreślił wzrost liczby i jakości rakiet jego organizacji i zamiar dokonania olbrzymiego ataku na cele w centralnym Izraelu podczas kolejnego starcia. Oświadczył także, że Hamas planuje dać militarne szkolenie uczestnikom cotygodniowego Marszu Powrotu na granicy Gazy z Izraelem. Chwalił Iran za finansową i techniczną pomoc, jakiej udziela Hamasowi, co pozwoliło mu na rozwój swojego potencjału militarnego. „Wszyscy Arabowie sprzedali Palestynę, ale nie Islamska Republika Iranu, która kontynuuje wspieranie naszego ludu przeciwko izraelskiemu wrogowi” – powiedział[1].
Przywódca PIJ, Al-Nachalah powiedział w wywiadzie dla telewizji Hezbollahu, że palestyński ruch oporu jest zdolny do uderzenia w strategiczne cele w środku Izraela wyprodukowanymi na miejscu rakietami, włącznie z rakietami z głowicami ważącymi pół tony, podkreślając, że PIJ używa irańskiej broni i ekspertyzy i jest blisko wspomagany przez Korpus Strażników Rewolucji Iranu (IRGC). Dowódca Sił Kuds IRGC, Kassem Soleimani „zna ludzi [palestyńskiego ruchu] oporu i oni dobrze go znają” – powiedział. Dodał, że PIJ będzie częścią każdego starcia między osią oporu a Izraelem i że „arabskie reżimy zrezygnowały z Palestyny”, a więc ich przywódcy nie nadają się do przewodzenia narodowi arabskiemu, z którego praw zrezygnowali[2].
Obaj przywódcy ostro skrytykowali plan pokojowy administracji Trumpa, znany jako „Umowa Stulecia”, jak również kierowane przez USA warsztaty ekonomiczne „Pokój do dobrobytu”, które mają odbyć się w Bahrajnie 25-26 czerwca 2019 r., żeby omówić ekonomiczne wymiary planu pokojowego[3]. Jest to zgodne ze stanowiskiem Iranu wobec Umowy Stulecia i ze staraniami Iranu, relacjonowanymi ostatnio w prasie arabskiej, zjednoczenia przeciwko niej osi oporu[4].
Należy wspomnieć, że w Dniu Kuds podobne wypowiedzi czyniono w Iranie w sprawie wsparcia tego kraju dla palestyńskiej walki zbrojnej. W przemówieniu na Dzień Kuds w Ahwaz, stolicy prowincji Chuzestan, Jahja Rahim Safavi, doradca najwyższego przywódcy Iranu, Alego Chameneiego, powiedział: „Poparcie [irańskiej] Rewolucji Islamskiej dla Jerozolimy nie jest [jedynie] taktyczne, ale jest zrodzone z wiary, która jest zakotwiczona w Koranie. Idzie za aspiracjami [islamskiej] Rewolucji i jest główną i niezmienną strategią. Będziemy kontynuować to wsparcie aż okupacyjny reżim [izraelski] będzie wymazany… Odważni wojownicy Palestyny kontynuują teraz walkę, którą rozpoczęli używając drzew i kamieni, jak również rakiet… Chamenei powiedział, że reżim syjonistyczny przestanie istnieć w ciągu 25 lat. Odliczanie do upadku tego reżimu już się rozpoczęło. Umowa Stulecia Trumpa jest spiskiem, by uratować reżim syjonistyczny przy użyciu pieniędzy krajów regionu… Strategia zbrojenia Zachodniego Brzegu, którą podkreślał Chamenei, jest obecnie realizowana”[5].
Poniżej podajemy fragmenty niedawnych wypowiedzi Al-Sinwara i Al-Nachalaha.
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Statements By Hamas Leader In Gaza Yahya Al-Sinwar
In The Next Confrontation, We Will Double The Number Of Rockets Fired At Tel Aviv And Its Environs
On May 28, 2019, Yahya Al-Sinwar attended an iftar (Ramadan dinner) in honor of young people who participate in the March of Return protests on the border, whom Hamas calls „revolutionary youths,” from central and southern Gaza.[6]The event was organized by the Supreme National Council for Return Marches and Breaking the Siege, which organizes the marches on behalf of Hamas and the other Gaza factions.[7] Addressing the participants, Al-Sinwar declared that in any future confrontation, Hamas’s military wing, the 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, will direct massive rocket fire at Tel Aviv, saying: „In the 2012 war we fired 17 rockets at Tel Aviv and its environs and in the 2014 war we fired 107 rockets. [Ahead of] any future confrontation, we have more [rockets] than before, even twice as many as we fired [in the past].”[8]
Return March Protesters Will Undergo Military Training
Al-Sinwar also stated that Hamas intends to provide the „revolutionary youths” with military training, saying: „A plan will be formulated to bring the revolutionaries into military training camps, in preparation for the liberation campaign.”[9] It should be noted that the violent character of the protests on the border, and the presence of militiamen among the protesters, turn them into volatile events that often trigger rounds of fighting between Israel and the Gaza factions.[x]
Yahya Al-Sinwar at iftar in honor of „The heroes of the Great Marches of Return on the border” (source: facebook.com/seraj.media2, May 28, 2019)
Without Iranian Assistance, We Wouldn’t Have The Capacity To Fire Rockets At Tel Aviv
On May 30, 2019, Al-Sinwar attended the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada.
The conference was held by the Gaza factions on the occasion of Qods Day, which is marked in many Arab countries, as well as by Muslims in the West, with mass marches against Israel. Hamas’s mouthpiece Al-Risalah reported that, at the event, Iran extended a grant of over $500,000 to „1,700 families of [Gazan] martyrs whose benefits have been cut [by the Palestinian Authority].”[9]
Coming against the backdrop of the recent Arab and Islamic summits in Saudi Arabia, at which decisions were taken against Iran,[12] and the economic workshop associated with the Deal of the Century, scheduled to take place in Bahrain in late June, Al-Sinwar’s address at the event, which included threats against regional leaders and incitement directed at the Bahraini people, clearly expressed Hamas’s support for Iran and its axis. Al-Sinwar stressed Iran’s central role in enhancing the military capabilities of Hamas and other Palestinian organizations, noting the progress they have made over the years: „In 2008-2009, the resistance fired several dozen locally-manufactured Grad rockets [into Israel]. In the 2012 war it managed to develop its means and bombard Tel Aviv with 18 Fajr rockets, and in 2014 it fired over 170 Fajr rockets at Tel Aviv. All this was with the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”[13]
He added: „We will continue to develop our capabilities to fight the occupation. Iran assisted us with rockets and supported us financially and technically in developing the rockets of the resistance that were fired at Tel Aviv. Without its support, the resistance would not have attained such military capabilities at a time when the [Arab] nation has deserted us… Nobody should blame us for our gratitude towards Iran, for it behooves us to thank everyone who helps us realize the goals of our people and our nation.” Al-Sinwar advised the Arab leaders to take an example from Iran and support the Palestinian resistance if they wish to stay in power.[14]
The Arabs Have All Sold Out Palestine; Only Iran Continues To Support Us
Al-Sinwar stated further: „This is a decisive moment, and the Arab leaders, kings and rulers must stand united against the Deal of the Century. The Arabs have all sold out Palestine, and only the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to support our people against the Israeli occupation.”[15] He said that Hamas’s next „genuine campaign” will take place in the West Bank, in order to thwart the Deal of the Century: „We are willing to be the fuel that will cause this deal to collapse, and we will not hesitate to achieve this at the cost of the lives of our leaders and our sons. This deal will not come to pass as long as we have a single drop of blood still flowing in our veins… In the next stage, our genuine campaign will be over the [West] Bank, because the occupation’s expansionist dreams focus on [the West Bank]. We urge Fatah to talk [to us] with one voice, and to join forces [with us] in foiling and thwarting the Deal of the Century. Our people in the [West] Bank can cause the deal to collapse, at a cost to the enemy… We know who our friends are and who our enemies are… Whoever supports the resistance and Jerusalem is a friend, and whoever wants to sell Jerusalem is an enemy.” In the same address, Al-Sinwar called on the Bahraini people to declare the days of the economic workshop a period of mourning, and said: „Stay home, put up black banners [as a sign of mourning] and do not go out into the streets. Declare to the world that you support Jerusalem and that you will not stab your Palestinian brothers in the back.”[16]
View the MEMRI TV clip of Al-Sinwar’s statements here or below:
In another speech before Gaza dignitaries, at a June 3, 2019 event titled „United against the Deal of the Century,” Al-Sinwar renewed his attack on the Arab leaders and what he called the campaign in the Arab media in favor of normalizing relations with Israel, saying: „Arabs, shrieking like crows, are spreading Zionist propaganda and saying that Jerusalem now belongs to the Jews and the Zionists and that we have no right to it. We in Palestine feel that we have been deserted by the official Arab regimes, which possess weapons and capabilities while we in Gaza dig into the soil with our fingernails so that our jihad fighters will be able to defend themselves.”[17] Al-Sinwar expressed amazement at what he called the efforts of some Arab countries to appease Israel, „that cowardly entity that fears young men who emerge from tunnels and crush the heads of its soldiers.”[18]
Statements By Islamic Jihad Leader Ziyad Al-Nakhalah
Arab Leaders Are Unfit For Their Roles And Belong To Enemy Camp
At the International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada, held, as noted, on May 30, 2019 to mark Qods Day, PIJ secretary-general Ziyad Al-Nakhalah stressed, in a recorded speech, that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud 'Abbas’s opposition to the Deal of the Century was a manifestation of „the failure of the plan for a [peace] arrangement with the Zionist entity” and was also a reason to convene „a national meeting of all our people’s [political] power elements, by means of which we will return to the [original] PLO plan and to its national charter that calls for liberation and [the right of] return.”
In his speech, Al-Nakhalah, like Al-Sinwar, condemned Arab leaders, stating: „We have always said that the Arab regimes have relinquished Palestine, and we say today as well that the leaders, kings, and presidents of the [Arab] countries are unfit to lead [the Arab] nation, that they are abandoning its rights, and are relinquishing the holy sites. How can they be leaders accepted by their people while they act this way?! We will all shout together, in their faces: Get away from us, you belong to the enemy camp.”
Underlining also the increased strength of the Palestinian resistance, Al-Nakhalah said: „Every day, the world is witness to the resistance of our people – through the Marches of Return at the Gaza border, through the unceasing clashes against the settlement [enterprise] in the West Bank, and through the bold resistance that imposes a new equation on the Zionist enemy in every battle that it wages against it and proves that the time when Israel imposed what it wanted is over. With the daring of its fighters, and with the development of its capabilities, the resistance has proven, in its battles in recent years, that it can act in ways no one expects. We are not far off from the equation of 'if you shell Gaza, we will shell Tel Aviv…'”[19]
PIJ secretary-general Ziyad Al-Nakhalah (source: paltoday.ps, May 30, 2019)
The Resistance Can Crush Israel With Over 1,000 Rockets A Day; We Will Use Rockets With Half-Ton Warheads
In an interview the same day, May 30, with Hizbullah’s Al-Manar TV, Al-Nakhalah pointed out the increased strength of the PIJ’s military wing, saying: „The Palestinian resistance has fighters willing to fight and freely give their lives on the battlefield, [a fact] that lends great value to [even] the simplest weapon on the battlefield… Under the shadow of the siege, most of the weapons in Gaza are manufactured by the resistance. The occupation thinks that the siege will impact the resistance – on the contrary, the resistance is manufacturing and developing its own weapons, such that they reach Tel Aviv and all Israeli cities.” He added: „The resistance is capable of crushing the Zionist cities with over 1,000 rockets a day for months… In every future clash with the occupation, the resistance will use rockets with half-ton warheads…
„The resistance is capable of attacking strategic centers and facilities in the Zionist entity… The resistance will have no 'red lines’ in any future confrontation. Israel needs to understand this equation full well. It must not carry out violations against the Palestinian civilians. Any aggression against Gaza will be followed by the shelling not only of Tel Aviv, but of all the Israeli cities, regardless of the outcome…”
Al-Nakhalah went on to say that IRGC Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani „knows the men of the resistance, and they know him well,” and that Iran is committed to supporting the Palestinian resistance and developing its capabilities so that it can fight Israel. He said that this aid „can help develop the resistance to the point of achieving liberation, not only standing fast in the face of the occupation,” and added:
„The claim that Iran is an enemy [of the Arabs] is untrue. On the contrary, it is standing against Israel, and it is the only country that is supporting the Palestinian people as they confront it… Without Iran and its support for the Palestinian people by all means at its disposal, the situation would be completely different. Palestine would become Israel, and the Palestinians would become slaves of the Israelis… The resistance is fighting with some of Iran’s weapons and knowhow… The resistance axis is a single axis in the confrontation with the [Israeli] aggression, and all the [resistance] organizations that comprise it share all its knowhow and capabilities…”
He stated further that the PIJ is part of the regional battle against the Zionist enemy, and clarified that the West Bank is a central part of the agenda of the resistance movements and that „day and night, work is ongoing to develop the resistance capabilities there…”[20]
View the MEMRI TV clip of Nakhaleh’s statements here or below:
A few days later, senior PIJ official Muhammad Shalah said that the resistance in Gaza would not be capable of facing the Israeli enemy without support from Iran, Syria and Hizbullah, and called for joining the resistance axis because it was „the quickest way to expel the American-Zionist occupation from the region.” He also condemned the upcoming economic workshop in Bahrain, and the „treasonous” Arab leaders planning to attend it.[21]
[1] Moqawmh.ps, May 30, 2019. For additional statements by Al-Sinwar praising Iran’s support of Hamas, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 1389, Hamas Supporters Deeply Divided Over Movement’s Links With Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), April 4, 2018.
[2] Paltoday.ps, May 30, 2019.
[3] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 8098, Arab Writers Urge Palestinians Not To Reject 'Deal Of Century’ Out Of Hand, Make Most Of Economic Workshop In Bahrain, May 31, 2019.
[4] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), June 3, 2019; raialyoum.com, June 5, 2019.
[5] Farsnews.com, May 31, 2019.
[6] Palsawa.com, May 29, 2019.
[7] On the marches, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 7476, The 'Great Return March’ Campaign: An Initiative Sponsored By Hamas, Whose Goal Was To Breach The Border Fence, Penetrate Israeli Territory, May 18, 2018.
[8] Gazaalaan.net, May 28, 2019.
[9] Gazaalaan.net, May 28, 2019.
[10] Hamas often describes the protests as „nonviolent,” but at the same time the organization, and Al-Sinwar himself, have admitted that many of the protesters are members of its military wing in civilian clothing. See MEMRI TV Clip No. 6576, Hamas Leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar: Our People Took Off Their Military Uniforms and Joined the Marches; We Decided to Turn the Bodies of Our Women and Children into a Dam Blocking Arab Collapse, May 16, 2018. Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar stated that calling the marches „peaceful resistance” is „terminological deception,” for „this is a peaceful resistance bolstered by a military force and by security agencies,” i.e., by Hamas’s military wing. See MEMRI TV Clip No. 6573, Senior Hamas Official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar on Gaza Protests: This Is Not Peaceful Resistance, It Is Supported by Our Weapons, May 13, 2018. Hamas political bureau head Isma’il Haniya likewise explained that the Return Marches combine „popular resistance” and „military resistance,” with the latter defending the former. Hamas.ps, June 7, 2018.
[11] Alresalah.ps, May 28, 2019. PIJ official Khader Habib thanked Iran for its willingness to help the Palestinians despite all the difficulties it is facing, adding that, „since the beginning of the [Islamic] Revolution, it did not withhold assistance from our people and from its resistance for a [single] day.” Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), May 30, 2019.
[12] In the last days of May 2019, three regional summits were held in Mecca. Two of them, emergency summits of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and of the Arab League, were convened by Saudi Arabia to present a united Gulf front vis-à-vis Iran in response to recent incidents: the attack on the Saudi oil facilities by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the Fujairah attack on the oil tankers, two of which were Saudi. A third summit, which had been scheduled in advance, was held under the aegis of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
[13] Moqawmh.ps, May 30, 2019.
[14] Palinfo.com, May 30, 2019.
[15] Moqawmh.ps, May 30, 2019.
[16] Palinfo.com, May 30, 2019.
[17] Filastin (Gaza), June 3, 2019.
[18] Hamas.ps, June 3, 2019.
[19] Paltoday.ps, May 30, 2019.
[20] Paltoday.ps, May 30, 2019.
[21] Alwatan.sy, June 3, 2019.
