The leader of Hamas’ political bureau, Khaled Meshaal, has reiterated in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor that his movement will not agree to a cease-fire that does not result in the lifting of the siege on Gaza. “Any initiative that doesn’t stop the aggression and end the siege on Gaza would not be acceptable to our people. That’s why the Egyptian initiative was rejected,” Meshaal told Al-Monitor in a phone interview from Doha. Since 2007, in addition to the multiple wars between 2008-2009 and 2012, Israel has maintained a land, air and sea siege on the Gaza Strip that is crippling its economy and has largely destroyed the territory’s infrastructure.
On July 15, Egypt proposed a truce, largely along the lines of the November 2012 cease-fire, that was accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas. Meshaal criticized Egypt’s position on the current war, stating, “Egypt’s negative position toward Hamas is unwarranted.”
Meshaal said the root problem of the conflict with Israel is the occupation and the siege in Gaza. He told Al-Monitor, “It is high time that the international community addresses the root of the problem in Gaza, lifts the unjust siege on the people and puts an end to Israeli violations in Jerusalem and the West Bank — such as the arrests, home demolitions and the closing of civil society institutions — because the root of the problem is the occupation, the settlements and the Judaization [of Palestinian land].” He added, “We don’t want war or more bloodshed, because we are the victim who is being killed, arrested and aggressed by the occupation, the settlements and the siege. We want to live a decent life without occupation and siege.”
Meshaal accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of instigating the war for domestic political reasons. “Netanyahu is the one who started this war. He attacked Gaza without justification. [He did it] for internal Israeli calculations and to face those ‘one-upping’ him inside his government,” he said. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,700 wounded since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8. One Israeli has died.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
