Resheq: Hamas continues its efforts to end the siege on Yarmouk

Member of Hamas political bureau Ezzat Resheq stressed that his movement is making every possible effort to find a solution to end the siege imposed on the Yarmouk camp.

Resheq, in a statement to PIC on Friday, strongly rejected remarks made by Ahmad Majdalani, representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Syria, in which he held Hamas responsible for the blockade on the Yarmouk camp.

The Hamas official reiterated that his movement has repeatedly stated that it does not have any military presence in the Syrian territory, and that like all the Palestinians it is not party to the conflict there, and added: “Hamas is working with the concerned parties to find a way to end the siege and save the lives of the residents of the camp.”

The Palestinian leader described Majdalani’s statements as “contrary to the reality”, and said “this would further complicate the issue of the camp.”

Majdalani claimed at a news conference, held on Thursday afternoon at the headquarters of the Government Information Office in Ramallah, that there are three military groups affiliated with Hamas inside the Yarmouk camp.

Meanwhile, leaders from Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, a number of officials and MPs and hundreds of Palestinian citizens in Gaza City took part in mass rallies on Friday, staged in support of the Palestinian besieged refugees in the Yarmouk camp in Syria, and in rejection of the negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli occupation.

The marches were launched from mosques in Gaza, at the call of Hamas, and then united in one mass rally during which the marchers chanted slogans demanding the lifting of the siege on the Yarmouk camp and ending the Gaza blockade, and the rejection of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s plan.

For his part, Hamas spokesman Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, in a speech he delivered at the end of the rally, denounced the international silence vis-à-vis the crime committed against the Yarmouk camp.

He called on the armed groups holed up in the camp to leave it immediately, and asked the Syrian regime forces to lift the blockade and allow entry of aid to the camp.

Abu Zuhri stressed that the Palestinian people is one; whether in Gaza, Ramallah or Yarmouk, adding that Hamas is making a considerable effort to end the suffering of the residents of the camp.

The Hamas spokesman stressed the Palestinian factions’ rejection to the ongoing negotiations with the occupation in the West Bank and to Kerry’s plan, and urged PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to work on achieving national unity and the reconciliation.

He also called on the Egyptian authorities to permanently open the Rafah crossing in order to ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

For its part, the media campaign to save the besieged Yarmouk camp appealed to the United Nations, the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Red Cross, the non-aligned countries and all international humanitarian organizations to immediately intervene in order to break the siege of the Yarmouk camp, which has led to shortages of food and medical supplies and fuel.

The statement stressed that any delay in saving the residents of the Yarmouk will cause hundreds of deaths, and called on all international bodies to shoulder their responsibilities and protect the camp and its inhabitants.