Hamas part of Palestinian political landscape, says Prime Minister Shtayyeh

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Hamas is part of the Palestinian political landscape, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh has said.

“Hamas is part of the Palestinian political map, and if Israel claims that it will eliminate, this will not happen, and it is unacceptable to us,” Shtayyeh said in a speech at the 21st edition of the Doha Forum in Qatar.

The Palestinian premier called for halting the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip.

“The Palestinian Authority did not leave Gaza. Rather, we supply it with electricity, water, and health equipment, and we did not abandon Hamas,” Shtayyeh said.

Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 under Israeli occupation after ousting the security forces of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority that administers the West Bank under Israeli occupation.

Shtayyeh said the Gaza crisis requires a political solution, not a security one.

“Israel has always wanted a security solution and has failed on this issue. The United States has also failed,” he said. “Israel has not achieved any political goal (in Gaza). It is only taking revenge and killing anything that confronts it.”

Israel launched a brutal and relentless air and ground attack on the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing at least 17,997 Palestinians and injuring more than 49,229 others, according to health authorities in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.