WarSclerotic

Palestinian factions have expressed deep satisfaction over the failure of a US-sponsored resolution condemning Hamas for “repeatedly firing rockets at Israel and for inciting violence.”

A procedural vote at the UN General Assembly calling for the US resolution to be decided on a two-thirds majority passed before the main vote. Although 87 voted in favor, 58 voted against, with 32 abstentions, the resolution failed under the two-thirds ruling.

Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian factions said that the failure of the UN to support the resolution was a “slap in the face of America” and a “victory for the Palestinian resistance.”

Hamas’s senior official, Khalil al-Haya, said that the failure of the US resolution was an “uplift for the Palestinian resistance.” Hamas, he said, “will remain committed to the option of resistance, which has been endorsed by the Palestinians.”

The failure of the US resolution, he added, is a “victory for the Palestinian resistance in spite of American bullying.” The Hamas official thanked the countries that opposed the US resolution and “prevented the US administration and Israel from crimializing the Palestinian resistance.” Addressing the countries that voted in favor of the anti-Hamas resolution, he said: “Shame on you for supporting the executioner against the victim.”

In a statement issued in the Gaza Strip last Thursday, Hamas said that the UN should be condemning Israel, and not Hamas, for terrorism. It called on the countries that supported the US and Israel at the UN General Assembly to reconsider their position and “correct this historical and dangerous mistake against the Palestinian people.”

Hamas said that the failure of the US resolution was a “big victory for the Palestinians and a terrible failure for the American policy of hegemony and domination.”

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh hailed the failure of the US resolution as an “important achievement for all Palestinians, including the resistance groups.” He thanked the Palestinian Authority and its envoy to the UN for their efforts to thwart the resolution.

Islamic Jihad spokesman Daoud Shehab said that the failure of the US resolution was a “severe blow” to the US and Israel. He said that all those who voted in favor of the resolution “should feel ashamed of their hypocrisy and ignorance of the reality.”

The PLO’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine also expressed joy over the failure of the US resolution condemning Hamas. They too described the result of the UN General Assembly vote as a “slap in the face of the US administration” and a “huge victory for the Palestinian resistance.”

PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat pointed out that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his ruling Fatah faction had played a role in thwarting the US resolution. The failure of the resolution is “conclusive evidence of the international community’s firm rejection of the Israeli occupation and the decisions taken by the US administration,” Erekat said. Abbas, he added, was not waiting for Hamas to thank him, but rather wants it to implement the 2017 “reconciliation agreement that was singed with Fatah in Cairo.

PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi welcomed the failure of the resolution, which, she said, “targeted our people, the national movement and the Palestine national struggle.”

The PA government in Ramallah also welcomed the outcome of the UN General Assembly vote and said it should that the world supports the right of the Palestinians and rejects the US administration’s “hegemony and arrogance.”

The Palestinian daily Al-Quds called on Hamas and Fatah to seize the opportunity to end their differences and achieve “national unity.” In an editorial, the paper praised Abbas and the PA leadership for their stance against the anti-Hamas resolution.