Hamas chief accuses US of preferring ‘Zionist entity’ over Arabs
Ismail Haniyeh calls Pence’s Israel trip ‘unwelcome,’ says Jerusalem move and UNRWA cuts target ‘the principles of the Palestinian cause’
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The leader of the Hamas terror group accused the United States of preferring its alliance with Israel over its interests in other parts of the Middle East.
Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday that US Vice President Mike Pence’s tour in Israel was “unwelcome,” adding that his speech before the Knesset a day earlier “proves the USA has a strategic alliance with the Zionist entity.”
America “doesn’t take the interests and requirements of the Islamic and Arab nation into consideration,” Haniyeh said in a televised speech from Gaza, which his terror group controls.
He accused the Trump administration of targeting “the principles of the Palestinian cause” by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and cutting funds to UNRWA, the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinians refugees and their descendants.
Following US President Donald Trump’s December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Haniyeh called for a violent uprising in response to the move that he vowed would continue until “Jerusalem’s liberation.”
While not directly calling for violence, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also reacted angrily to the move and said the US was no longer and honest broker in peace talks.
As a result of Abbas’ refusal to engage with the US on peace talks, the White House froze over $100 million in aid destined for UNRWA last week.
Pence’s visit to Israel has come as Abbas is in Brussels to urge European Union member states to recognize a Palestinian state. Pence did not meet with Abbas or other PA officials while in the region.
On Monday, Hamas praised Israel’s Joint (Arab) List lawmakers after they held up up signs reading “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine,” during Pence’s speech to the Knesset.
Hamas hailed the “Palestinian” lawmakers for protesting against Pence’s “racial speech” in a post on its official English Twitter account.
It also said “Al-Quds is the eternal capital of #Palestine,” using the Arabic name for Jerusalem.
The Times of Israel Community.