Hamas rejects attempts to rule over Palestinians

Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, said Monday that it rejected the Arab governments' attempts to rule over or dominate the Palestinian people. Ismail Haneya, deputy chief of Hamas and deposed prime minister of Hamas government in Gaza, made the remarks at a conference held in Gaza to mark the al-Nakba day when thousands of Palestinians were forced to leave their homes during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948. "We never accept any Arab rule over the Palestinian people and at the same time we will never keep silent for shedding the blood of the Palestinians in Syria," Haneya said. The top Hamas leader called for stopping the killing and displacement of Palestinian refugees in Syria, adding that "The Arabs' stance is very weak concerning the crimes that are committed against our people." Official Palestinian figures showed that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and around 120,000 other refugees displaced since the beginning of the unrest in Syria in 2011. Hamas' main bureau had been based in Damascus until the beginning of the unrest in Syria. However, Haneya said "Hamas can' t stand to the side of a regime that kills its people and kill and displace thousands of our Palestinian people." He also called for the return of Palestinian refugees, saying " the refugees' return can never be achieved throughout negotiations, or bargaining and lands swap, but only throughout armed resistance. " Meanwhile, Haneya called for an end to the internal Palestinian division and achieving the Palestinian reconciliation, adding " unity would enable the Palestinians to pay more time to their essential national causes."