Hamas is not interested in Power right now

Hamas' leading figure Yahia Moussa said his party took power in the Palestinian territories only because the Palestinians wanted elected them. Hamas “ has never been so uninterested in power “. In an exclusive interview with Arabstoday, MP Moussa said Hamas has previously sought power in the Palestinian territories because they felt the Palestinian people were desperate to see a real change in the Palestinian Authority's strategy in the struggle against the Israeli occupation. This was proved by the results of the election of 2005, where Hamas won a majority that allowed the party set up the government, before an internal conflict between Hamas and Fatah took place in 2007 leading to a separation between the Gaza Strip where Hamas stayed in power, and the West Bank where the PA led by President Mahmoud Abbas rules. "The people saw that the negotiations based on the Oslo and Madrid accords have eventually led to nothing, so they were aiming to elect a new authority that adopts a strategy to liberate Palestine," said the Hamas MP. Moussa refuted the accusations by other Islamist groups that Hamas has chosen to suspend the military resistance against the occupation in order to protect its position of power in Gaza. He stressed that resistance is still "the main foundation of Hamas." "They can look back at the war of 2008 where the Israelis targeted us because we refused to suspend the military resistance, which is still relevant today, as we responded to the latest Israeli attack on Gaza on Sunday," he said. "We are less interested to stay in power than ever, but we have to assume our responsibilities because we were elected by the Palestinian people." Spokesman of the Hamas' military wing said on Monday that the Islamist movement is committed to full coordination with other resistance groups like the Islamic Jihad in addressing the Israeli attacks against Gaza. MP Moussa confirmed the claim. "By sticking to this commitment we are sending a message to the Israelis that we are united against their aggression, and they will not be able to single any Palestinian faction," he said. Moussa attributed the latest Israeli attacks against Gaza to the "political crisis" Benjamin Netanyahu's government is facing, which could trigger early elections "in which the electorate are expected to vote for the more extreme party". Therefore Netanyahu is trying to prove that he can be aggressive, especially as no one from the international communityis trying to stop him, Moussa said. When asked about the latest developments in the efforts of achieving reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, Moussa stressed his movement is ready to allow this reconciliation, yet he said that Fatah's insistence on holding new elections in the Palestinian territories as first step in the reconciliation is the main obstacle that hinders the matter. "We don't fear elections and we are totally confident we will win it because our popularity has increased a lot in both Gaza and the West Bank since the last elections, however, we believe that the rifts within the Palestinian parties will not be solved that way. We want a comprehensive solution in which we can all agree on a unified strategy based on resistance against the occupation to replace the failed strategy based on the Oslo Accords."