Hayya: Hamas backs joint lists in local polls, calls for unity

Political bureau member of Hamas, Khalil al-Hayya, on Wednesday said Hamas will work hard for the success of local Palestinian polls and will back up joint lists. Speaking during a rally held in Gaza, Hayya urged the Palestinian Authority (PA), national factions, and civil society to combine forces for the success of local elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

He reiterated Hamas’s commitment to the choices of the Palestinian masses and readiness to join the elections despite the tragic situation in the Gaza Strip and the tough blockade imposed on the coastal enclave. Hayya expressed the group’s hope to heal the national rift in the face of the Israeli occupation.

“We want a real unity to challenge Israeli policies and criminalize occupation,” said Hayya. “We have to agree on a unified anti-occupation political agenda. This can only come true if a real partnership is achieved within national associations, mainly the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).” “Unless the PLO speaks up for all Palestinians alike, it will remain powerless and self-centered,” he added.

The Hamas leader reminded the audience of the destructive upshots of the latest Israeli offensive on Gaza. “Paradoxical as it might sound, the war on Gaza gave birth to a stormy uprising,” he noted. “On the occasion of the commemoration of the Israeli war on Gaza, we, the Palestinians, call on the nation to defend its heritage and fight the Israeli colonizer. Israel, and no other party, country, or ideology, is our only enemy,” he concluded.