Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 25.04.2024
“Khalil al-Hayya, one of the senior leaders of the Hamas political wing who has been involved in the ceasefire negotiations with Israel, sat down for an interview with the Associated Press in Istanbul, where he gave the headline that Hamas could be ready to end its armed resistance. Al-Hayya said Hamas would accept “a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions” along Israel’s pre-1967 borders. In return, the group’s military wing would dissolve. If we are not assured the war will end, why would I hand over the prisoners?” Al-Hayya told AP. The Hamas official said the group could agree to a truce of five years or more and fold its military wing into a political party if an independent Palestinian state were to be established. “All the experiences of people who fought against occupiers, when they became independent and obtained their rights and state, what have these forces done? They have turned into political parties,[i] and their defending fighting forces have turned into the national army,” he said.
On February 14, I wrote: “There are rumors that Hamas is ready to join the PLO and form a joint government with the PA alongside Israel. According to this rumor, Hamas demands 3 points for such a betrayal.
The three points included that, first, the war in Gaza ended, and a political horizon was established for a two-state solution. Second, Gaza should be rebuilt with the leadership of a technocratic government. Third, the internal Palestinian situation should be monitored, reconciliation between the Palestinian factions should take place, and Hamas should join the PLO with a broader, unified Palestinian-Arab vision”.[ii]
The idea that Israel will give up on the occupation of 1967 is a pie in the sky. The RCIT has repeated time and again that the concept of peace with Israel based on two states: one imperialist apartheid state on 78% of Palestine and the other one on 27%, is not only an illusion but a betrayal of the Palestinian struggle. This is the reason that we support Hamas in the military aspect without giving Hamas any political support.
At the same time, the statement of Hamas will be helpful to expose further the lie that Israel wants peace with the Palestinians, even based on a mini-independent state alongside Israel. Israel, under pressure, may agree to the formation of a Bantustan mini-state without being independent as it was in South Africa to provide cheap labor for Zionist imperialism.
Down with the Zionist apartheid state from the river to the sea!
For Palestine red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[i] https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-hamas-official-ready-to-establish-a-palestinian-state-within-the-67-borders-and-then-lay-down-our-arms
[ii] https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-798593 Is Hamas ready to give up on the struggle for one state from the river to the sea? February 14, 2024