Senior Hamas leader Basem Naim talks on the Israel-Hamas truce, prisoner swap, and the destruction of Gaza in an exclusive Al Arabiya News special. He talks on the US’s impact, long-term reconstruction, and Hamas’ contribution to Palestinians’ independence and dignity.
Basem Naim told Al Arabiya News host Melinda Nucifora that the “complicit” Biden Administration’s hesitancy and “unwavering support” for Israel was to blame for the month-long delay in the ceasefire agreement with Israel.
Nucifora asked Naim for his thoughts on if the deal could have been successful without Donald Trump taking over the White House on Monday. Naim responded:
“No, I couldn’t imagine that this could be possible without the pressure of the incoming administration led by President Trump, because his envoy in the region, Mr. Steve Witkoff [incoming special Middle East envoy], was here for the last few days, taking notice of all the details and all the obstacles and exercising pressure, especially on the Israeli government.
“Therefore, yes, we have great input [from the Trump administration] to reach this moment. And I am sure most of the delay for the last few months was because of the reluctance, maybe complicity, of the Biden administration and the unlimited and their unwavering support for the government in Israel in their war against Palestinians for the continuous investment in this war militarily, diplomatically, and, politically.”
“But on the other side, I don’t know exactly what he has. I mean, the upcoming administration led by Trump, has promised Netanyahu to go for this deal. Maybe they might deescalate the situation in the Gaza strip, but at the same time, they might give him promises to announce sovereignty over the West Bank or annexation of Jerusalem, annexing more Palestinian or maybe to go further in that work of normalisation in the Arab region.
“Because this was one of the conditions to restart or to relaunch the operation. The normalisation operation is to stop this war, to stop this aggression. No one can go for normalisation with Israel while they were committing genocide in Gaza.”
When Nucifora said, “Do you think the Biden administration is partly to blame for the ongoing conflicts and bloodshed we have seen over these past months?” Basem responded:
“One hundred percent. The Biden administration, Biden himself and Tony Blinken [US Sectretary of State] are complicit in the genocide against our people because on one side, they are talking about an attempt will try to to reach a ceasefire on the other side, we have seen the US using veto four times in the UN Security Council against the international will.
“When 147 countries voted for a ceasefire here, when we have seen billions, $60-70 billion paid for Israel during this time, when we have seen hundreds of thousands of tonnes or hundreds of thousands of tonnes of American ammunition and weapons reach Israel.
“Israel would not be able to continue committing this genocide in the Gaza strip without the American, the unwavering American support, more than 500,000 tonnes of supplies of material and weapons reach Israel through from America. More than 80-90,000 tonnes of explosive materials dropped on the Gazans along the last 15 months.
Watch the full interview with Bassem Naim here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgydzJRSyVI&t=67s
