A delegation from Hamas movement arrived today into the Bahraini capital city Manama, as part of a tour in different Gulf states that includes Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Yemen.
The delegation was headed by Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal, who asserted during his visit to Yemen that the Israeli government seeks to isolate the new Palestinian government, pointing out that the Arab states will increase their financial assistance to the Palestinian people during the upcoming Arab Summit that will be held in Sudan at the end of this month.
"The movement has two options to face these challenges: either to submit to the conditions of the international community, which are Israel’s conditions, and in this case we lose ourselves and others, or to steadfast and persist on the principles of the Palestinian people," Mashaal added, accusing the United States of exercising pressure on the Palestinian factions not to join the new cabinet.
In his statements that were published by the Hamas-linked Palestinian Information Center, Mashaal confirmed that "resistance is a means to an end, and it is legitimate because it is a defensive option to repel the Zionist aggression, which escalated as punishment for the Palestinian people for choosing Hamas."
Hamas politburo chief expressed hope that the Arab leaders the delegation met would fulfill their pledges. "There are commitments and we are waiting for them to be translated into figures at the next Arab Summit."
He explained that the commitment of Arab states to financial and moral support will be sufficient for the Hamas-led government without any European or American assistance, which don’t exceed 35 percent of the total Palestinian annual budget, estimated of about two billion dollars.
On his part, the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh urged the Palestinian government, led by the Hamas movement, to accept the Arab peace initiative that was launched in Beirut in 2002, which conditions normalization with Israel with its withdrawal from the lands occupied in 1967.
This is the first time in which an Arab leaders calls on Hamas to commit to the Arab peace initiative, which means a clear recognition of Israel — something Hamas has until now rejected.
Furthermore, the Yemeni Islamic scholar Sheikh Abdel Majid Al Zendani, urged Yemeni citizens to support the Hamas movement, and donate to it without fearing the pressure and threats of the American administration, which has considered anyone supporting Hamas a terrorist.
