A Hamas official warned that if the United States moves forward with its Middle East plan, it could lead to another intifada. Basem Naim, the head of Hamas’s International Relations Office, tweeted the notion on Thursday.
“If what is published in the media [about] #Trump deal correct, it means a new #Nakba 4 the Palestinians & the end of any opportunity 4 political solutions. Palestinians will hinder the implementation of the deal, whatever the price. It will trigger a new #Intifada. TO BE OR NOT TO BE,” he said.
If what is published in the media abt #Trump deal correct, it means a new #Nakba 4 the Palestinians & the end of any opportunity 4 political solutions. Palestinians will hinder the implementation of the deal, whatever the price. It will trigger a new #Intifada. TO BE OR NOT TO BE pic.twitter.com/5A18MNMvkC
— Dr. Basem Naim (@basemn63) January 23, 2020
Naim’s tweet came the same day President Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his challenger in upcoming elections, Benny Gantz, to D.C. next week to discuss the deal. The president downplayed reports about the deal on Twitter, saying that the “details and timing of our closely held peace plan are purely speculative.” Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was not invited to Washington at the same time as Netanyahu and Gantz.
Trump told reporters that the administration would release the plan “sometime prior to” the meeting next Tuesday.
The deal, which has been headed by the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been dubbed the “deal of the century.” Palestinian officials have preemptively rejected any deals based on the president’s previous decisions relating to Israel, such as moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to the Washington Post.
“We’ve spoken to them briefly. But we will speak to them in a period of time,” he said in response to being asked if he had spoken to the Palestinians. “And they have a lot of incentive to do it. I’m sure they maybe will react negatively at first but it’s actually very positive for them.”
Palestinians have organized two intifadas previously, which are uprisings designed to fight against the Israeli government. The first one lasted from the end of 1987 until the signing of the Oslo Accord in 1993. The second violent uprising occurred in the early 2000s.
