File Photo- Hamas fighters take part in a rally in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.AFP
“We clearly announce that any blatant attempt by the US to intervene and impose a new reality in the Gaza Strip will be completely rejected, and our Palestinian people will confront and repulse it by all possible means, including the use of force,” Hamas said in a statement.
They affirmed that only Palestinians have the right to arrange their domestic home and no one has the right to determine their fate, future, and interests.
“These malicious American statements and plans are daydreams and our great Palestinian people and their brave resistance will repulse this fascist occupation and defeat it in the current war,” the statement read.
Hamas asserted that the Palestinian people will continue their struggle until they restore their inalienable rights and establish their independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Their statement came a day after John Kirby, the US National Security Council coordinator, said in a press conference that no plans or intentions to put US military troops on the ground in Gaza now or in the future, but the US is talking to its partners about what post-war Gaza should look like.
The only way for the US to be in Gaza is within an international presence to manage the post-war period, Kirby added.
US officials, including President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, have said repeatedly that they do not believe an Israeli re-occupation of Gaza is feasible, and Israel agrees. But what comes next has been little explored beyond the brief comments Blinken made Tuesday in congressional testimony when he talked about the possibility of a revitalized Palestinian authority and perhaps Arab states and international organizations playing a significant role in post-conflict Gaza.
Just weeks after a frenzied trip to the Middle East, Blinken is returning to the region with a somewhat more nuanced message than the one he gave immediately after the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza.
Blinken will speak about “the U.S. commitment to working with partners to set the conditions for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East to include the establishment of a Palestinian state that reflects the aspirations of the Palestinian people in Gaza and in the West Bank,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
He will also introduce a new element to the US list of priorities: the need for Israel and its neighbours to begin to consider what a post-conflict Gaza will look like, who will govern it, how it can be made secure, and how to establish an independent Palestinian state, according to an AP report.
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