Press Release On 36th Anniversary Of Sabra And Shatila Massacre

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YeSterday marked the 36th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre which was perpetrated by the Israeli Occupation military on the Israeli war minister Ariel Sharon’s orders to deter the Palestinian people from resisting the occupation, as he mistakenly thought he could terrorize the Palestinian people, crush their will, and force them to surrender.

After 23 years, however, Sharon, who used to say that ‘the fate of Netzarim is the fate of Tel Aviv’, was forced to withdraw his forces from Gaza under intense pressure from the Palestinian resistance.

The Sabra and Shatila massacre will remain a curse hunting the Israeli Occupation and a disgrace to all those complicit in such atrocity.

The Palestinian people will hold firm on their rights and will continue their struggle against the occupation, as such crimes against humanity will not be forgotten by the passage of time.

The tragic anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre comes while the Palestinian Authority is still adhering to the shameful Oslo Accords in a desperate pursuit of fragile peace.

Although the Palestinian people are exposed to murder, arbitrary detention, home demolition, and displacement at the hands of the Israeli Occupation on a daily basis in a bid take over the Palestinian territories and build the so-called ‘Temple Mount’ on the debris of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Palestinian Authority is risking the Palestinian people’s rights, interests, and security by staying committed to the Oslo Accords.

This painful anniversary comes, while the free people of Palestine who embraced the option of resistance are being chased, detained, and tortured in the PA’s jails in collaboration with the Israeli Occupation in a desperate attempt to deter them from resisting the occupation and defending their homeland and rights.

The continuation of the Great March of Return, in which the Palestinian people have made sacrifices, is a clear-cut proof that the Palestinians have selected the option of resistance in their fight for their rights and freedom.

On such tragic anniversary, Hamas states the following:

First: Hamas hails the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jerusalem, and outside the occupied Palestinian territories for remaining steadfast in the face of the Israeli Occupation and upholding their rights.

Second: We call on all segments of the Palestinian people and the concerned groups and countries, especially the Lebanese government, to exert great effort to prosecute the Israeli war criminals in the International Criminal Court.

Third: All the massacres and atrocities committed by the Israeli Occupation against the Palestinian people will not break their will, nor will it deter them from resisting the occupation until they restore their freedom and national rights and establish their independent state whose capital is Jerusalem.

Fourth: The painful anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre comes to prove that the Israeli Occupation does not believe in peace.

Fifth: Hamas reiterates the necessity of the Great March of Return to continue unabated and renews its support for the Palestinians who took part in the popular protests demanding their right to return to their homeland and the siege imposed on Gaza to be lifted.

Sixth: We urge the Palestinian people to unite behind the Palestinian resistance, as Hamas believes that the option of resistance is the shortest path to liberation and freedom.

17 September, 18