Hamas: Aqsa Mosque the focus of our resistance

Ismail Haneyya, Deputy Head of Hamas’s Political Bureau, praised on Friday the Hamas elections and said that Yahya al-Sinwar, who was elected new leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip after serving 25 years in Israeli jails, represents a source of pride for the Movement that is loyal to its prisoners and heroes.

During a speech he delivered at the opening of Raed al-Attar Mosque in Rafah city, south of the Gaza Strip, which was named after a leader in the Qassam Brigades who was assassinated by Israel in 2014, Haneyya said on electing Sinwar as the new leader, “We all are soldiers in the face of the Israeli occupation, yet politicians and diplomats with our people and nation.”

Haneyya pointed out that Hamas was led before by a diversity of leaders coming from different schools including the political and organizational schools, adding that electing Sinwar, who belongs to the military school, indicates the possibility of the emergence of new school in the next elections.

He affirmed that Hamas is a unified movement that has its own departments, organizations and consultative commissions, and that his movement is loyal to its martyrs, founders and members who shoulder their responsibilities toward their country.

About the relations with Egypt, the Hamas leader confirmed his Movement’s keenness on maintaining strong and strategic ties with all Arab and Muslim nations especially Egypt.

He pointed to the Israeli violations and ongoing attacks on the Palestinian holy sites, emphasizing that al-Aqsa Mosque will remain the focus of our struggle and the minaret that leads the Palestinians’ path to liberation.

In another context, Haneyya pointed out that building a hospital in Rafah will be at the top priorities of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in the next phase after the Emir of Qatar issued approval for allocating 25 million dollars for the construction of the hospital.

He added that he discussed the project with the Emir of Qatar during his latest visit to Doha and conferred about it with the Qatari ambassador in Gaza Mohammed al-Emadi, noting that 50 dunums of lands were allocated for new projects, the first of which was Raed al-Attar Mosque.