On May 18th, local time, Mahmoud Mardavi, a senior official of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), issued a statement on Al Jazeera, stating that Hamas rejected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ call to hand over resistance weapons to the Palestinian Authority and emphasized that as long as Israel continues to occupy Palestinian land, Hamas will insist on the choice of resistance. Maldavi stated, “The use of weapons is the legitimate right of people who resist occupation and face daily massacres.” Maldavi emphasized that Hamas does not consider delivering weapons as a solution, but rather ignores national rights and abandons its responsibility to defend the Palestinian people. Abbas called on Hamas to “relinquish control of the Gaza Strip and hand over weapons to the Palestinian Authority” at the 34th Arab League Summit held in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on the 17th, and emphasized the need to “restructure Gaza’s security services based on professional reasons and under the supervision of Arab countries and the international community”. Abbas emphasized that “the Palestinian Liberation Organization is the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people.” He also pointed out that due to the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestine is facing “survival risks.
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