Hamas: PA’s participation in Egyptian summit is in ‘total disregard’ of Israeli crimes

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has vehemently decried the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s participation in an upcoming summit in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Hazem Qassem, the Hamas spokesman, said on Friday that the PA’s attendance at the summit on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on March 19 comes in “total disregard” of the Palestinian people's suffering at the hands of the Israeli forces and settlers.

Stressing that the summit aims to “fight the resistance,” Qassem called on the PA to reverse its decision, which only serves the occupying regime's agenda.

The Hamas official called on the PA to stop all security coordination with the Israeli occupation and to stand behind the national consensus and the Palestinian people's will for resistance until putting an end to the occupation.

The gathering, under the US auspices, comes amid escalating violence in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds, which has left growing numbers of Palestinian people, including women and children, dead and many others injured.

Egypt, a US ally, has in the past brokered negotiations aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and Hamas, including the May 2021 war. Cairo has also been mediating between rival Palestinian factions while tirelessly calling for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which stalled years ago.

The summit in the Egyptian city comes only two weeks after the Aqaba security summit with the aim of de-escalating the surging violence in the Palestinian territories ahead of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

On Thursday, the Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including a teenager, in the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Israeli forces kill four Palestinians, including minor, in latest Jenin raid

Israeli special forces have killed four Palestinians, including a teenager, and injured 20 others during a raid in the occupied northern West Bank city of Jenin.

The latest deaths bring the number of Palestinians killed since the start of the year to 83 as the Israeli regime has stepped up arrest raids across the occupied West Bank.

Over the past months, Israel has ramped up attacks on Palestinian towns and cities throughout the occupied territories. As a result of these attacks, dozens of Palestinians have lost their lives and many others have been arrested.

Most of the raids have focused on Nablus and Jenin, where Israeli forces have been trying to stifle a growing Palestinian resistance in the occupied cities.

Local and international rights groups have condemned Israel’s excessive use of force and “shoot-to-kill policy” against Palestinians.

‘Israel, PA work to eliminate resistance’

Meanwhile, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, said on Thursday that the Israeli regime, in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, was trying to eliminate the Palestinian resistance in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking at a conference in Algiers via video link, Haniyeh pointed out that armed resistance is growing across the West Bank as a strategic option for all Palestinians.

Underscoring that the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades — the military wing of Hamas — have introduced new missiles capable of striking Israeli targets from a further distance, Haniyeh said, "the occupation only understands the language of force."

Hamas warns Israel against al-Aqsa ‘violations’ during Ramadan

Hamas says the risk of escalation entirely depends on the Israeli occupation’s violations across Palestine and at al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Israeli war on Gaza, which continued between May 10 and May 21 in 2021, killed at least 250 Palestinians, including 66 children, and injured more than 1,900 others. The Gaza-based resistance movements retaliated by firing thousands of missiles at the occupied Palestinian territories.

The regime was eventually forced to announce a ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, which came into force in the early hours of May 21.

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