This joint statement by the leadership of several Palestinian resistance factions is the result of a consultative meeting held in Beirut. The English copy below is sourced from the Resistance News Network. Excerpts and summary of the same statement can also be read on the Palestine Chronicle, however, in the interests of record and transparency, we are archiving the full text here.
Joint statement issued by Hamas, PFLP, PIJ, DFLP, and PFLP-GC [Ed: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command] :
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The leadership of the Palestinian resistance factions held a consultative meeting in Beirut, where they discussed the developments of Al-Aqsa Flood battle amidst the ongoing zionist aggression on our land, people, and holy sites, especially in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian West Bank, and Al-Quds. The meeting concluded with the following results:
First: With all pride and honor, the attendees praised the heroic steadfastness of our people in the occupied lands, especially the legendary steadfastness of our people in the Gaza Strip, where our children, women, and all our people, with bare chests, face the brutal acts of the “israeli” enemy, which targeted shelters for the displaced, homes, mosques, churches, schools, hospitals, and the general infrastructure facilities, as part of implementing a genocidal and scorched-earth policy against our steadfast people, who firmly thwarted the mass displacement project to the Arab neighbors, to empty the steadfast Strip of its residents, and annex it to the state of occupation and mass murder. This plan very clearly aims to end the Palestinian national cause and liquidate the legitimate national rights of our people, in determining fate, establishing the independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital, and ensuring the right of return for the refugees of our people to their homes and properties, per Resolution 194, in contrast to the annexation of territories occupied in the aggressive war of 1967, and the establishment of “greater israel” at the expense of our national project, the identity of our people, and their right to sovereignty over their land and the establishment of their independent state with Al-Quds as its capital.
Second: The attendees highlighted the heroic actions of the valiant resistance in the occupied Palestinian lands in general, and in the Gaza Strip in particular. They praised its ability to thwart the enemy’s goals, demonstrating its incompetence and the fragility its forces in the field. They also praised the unity of struggle of all the military wings of the resistance factions, as manifested in the field in creativity, smart tactics, and actions that exceeded expectations in an extension of the strategic battle of Al-Aqsa Flood, which made October 7, 2023, a historical turning point, shaking the international situation. This reaffirms that the Palestinian cause still is and will remain the central issue at the regional level, and that the decline in interest was not due to a decline in status in the region’s political map, but rather an expression of the decline of the official leadership role, which based its calculations on betting on the American “two-state solution” project, and the “understanding” project with the zionist occupation “Oslo Accords.”
In this context, the attendees affirm their determination to continue the resistance in the field, and in other forums, until the brutal war on our people stops, and the aggression is repelled from the Strip.
Third: The attendees affirmed that the direct and immediate combative and struggle tasks to be achieved are as follows:
1) Immediate cessation of the war of genocide, scorched earth, and ethnic cleansing by the “israeli” enemy on the Gaza Strip.
2) Breaking the siege on the Strip, starting to supply our people with all necessities of life, and simultaneously rebuilding and reconstructing the infrastructure institutions and facilities. This includes providing the necessary supplies to reactivate and support the medical system, which is almost collapsing under the barbaric acts of the “israeli” aggression, and transferring serious injury cases from the Strip to treatment abroad in brotherly and friendly countries.
3) Arab, Islamic, and international commitment to reconstruction, and requesting brotherly and friendly countries, and international and regional organizations, foremost among them the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the United Nations, to launch an international initiative to reconstruct what the occupation and barbaric aggression have destroyed in the Gaza Strip, and to work earnestly to bring life back to the Strip’s arteries, to provide the necessary foundations for enhancing the steadfastness of our people and their adherence to their land, as a minimum reward for the legendary sacrifices that astonished the whole world.
Fourth: The attendees stressed their condemnation and rejection of the scenarios by Western and “israeli” circles for the so-called “day after” in Gaza. They confirmed that such rejected scenarios, both in detail and in general, are merely betting on the failed attempt to break the steadfastness of our people and our valiant resistance; these are mere pipe dreams that will not be realized now or in the future, especially after the signs of the enemy’s defeat began to appear, in its explicit acknowledgment of its deaths and injuries at the hands of our resistance, and its forced withdrawal of the most significant part of its forces, after the disgrace it suffered in the field at the hands of our heroic resistance fighters in the field.
The attendees affirm that our national movement and valiant resistance possess a wealth of struggle, intellectual, and political stock that qualifies it to reject all projects and scenarios presented as a “solution” to the Gaza cause, as there is no separate cause for the Strip, another for the West Bank, and another for Al-Quds.
The Palestinian cause is the cause of all of Palestine, land, people, rights, future, and destiny. The solution to the cause can only be achieved through the departure of the occupation and all forms of settlements, paving the way for our people to determine their national destiny on their land.
Fifth: The attendees agreed on the need to confront the consequences of the barbaric war on our people with a unified strategic and combative struggle, reintroducing our cause as a national liberation cause for a people under occupation. In this context, they propose the following suggestions to all parties of the Palestinian national movement and its components:
1) Calling for a comprehensive national meeting that includes all parties without exception, to implement what was agreed upon in previous Palestinian dialogues, and to confront the consequences of the brutal war on our people in the Gaza Strip, and the barbaric attacks by settler gangs and occupation forces, and settlement and annexation projects in the West Bank, especially in Al-Quds.
2) Rejecting all solutions and scenarios for the so-called “future of the Gaza Strip,” and presenting a national Palestinian solution based on forming a national unity government that emerges from comprehensive national consensus including all parties, responsible for unifying national institutions in the occupied lands in the West Bank and the Strip, bearing responsibilities in adopting projects aimed at rebuilding what the barbaric invasion destroyed in the Strip, restoring life to our people there, and preparing for elections.
3) Full emphasis on the necessity of a ceasefire and the permanent cessation of all acts of aggression, and the complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, as a condition for discussing prisoner exchange based on the of “all for all” principle, emptying the prisons, and stopping arrests against our people in the occupied lands.
4) Developing and enhancing the Palestinian political system on democratic foundations, through general elections (presidential, legislative, and national council), according to a full proportional representation system, in free, fair, transparent, and democratic elections, with the participation of everyone, thereby rebuilding internal relations on the foundations and principles of national coalition and genuine national partnership.
The attendees salute the martyrs of our people in the occupied lands, especially to our people in the Gaza Strip, wish a speedy recovery to the wounded, and salute those who are steadfast despite the harshness and brutality of the aggression in the Gaza Strip. They extend a salute of struggle and admiration to the states and forces of resistance in our [Arab and Islamic] nation for their role in supporting our people and resistance.
They also salute our Arab peoples and the free people in the world who came out in their countries and capitals, condemning zionist terrorism and supporting our people’s right to defend themselves and their land and dignity. They call for more political, media, and financial support, establishing a global front against “israeli” terrorism and aggression, and the barbarism of the Atlantic, led by the United States, the number one enemy of the world’s peoples aspiring to freedom, independence, prosperity, and dignified living.
Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command
Beirut on 28/12/2023
