The Israel- Palestine conflict

Hamas & the PLO- Fatah

 

The Israel-Palestine conflict remains one of the most pressing and deeply entrenched crises in modern history. Palestinians have a legitimate right to live in peace in the land they have inhabited for centuries. However, the colonialist Zionist enterprise has systematically deprived them of their basic human rights, confiscating land and expelling native inhabitants to make way for Jews born in America, Europe, and other parts of the world. Israel has established an apartheid system against the native Palestinian Arabs, with laws protecting Jewish citizens exclusively while offering no legal safeguards for non-Jewish populations - yet it still prides itself on being the only democracy in the region.

 

Hamas continuously re-emerges from its struggles with renewed strength and unwavering resolve, always prepared to challenge one of the most powerful armies in the world. Now, what is Hamas?

 

Founded in the 1950s, Hamas is an Islamic resistance movement opposing the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It originated as a branch of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, with its core objective being the liberation of all occupied Arab land through struggle - standing in contrast to  the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which pursued negotiations in an effort to secure even a fragmented Palestinian state. 

In 1974, when Yasser Arafat, the then Chairman of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) as well as Fatah (previously known as Palestinian National Liberation Movement) addressed the UN General Assembly, he signalled his willingness to negotiate a peaceful settlement. Alarmed by Arafat’s growing international and domestic influence, Israel sought to counteract the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), implementing a divide-and-rule strategy reminiscent of colonial governance. Ironically, Israel covertly supported Hamas in 1987, enabling its expansion through religious institutions and charitable organisations. Despite these efforts, Hamas remained steadfast in its objectives, and Israel ultimately lost control over the movement it had helped foster.

 

By November 2005, Hamas’s persistent resistance forced Israel to evacuate Gaza. In January 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian elections, threatening the PLO-Fatah’s decades-long dominance, and Ismail Haniyeh became Prime Minister of Palestine. A year later, Hamas forcibly ousted Fatah from Gaza in a violent struggle. In response, Israel sought to reverse its previous actions, imprisoning Hamas’s elected parliamentarians to shift the legislative balance back in favour of Fatah. This exposed the partnership between Israel and the PLO, elevating Hamas to hero status among Palestinians while PLO-Fatah steadily faded into obscurity. Though labelled a terrorist organisation, Hamas has, over time, forced Israel to acknowledge its presence and negotiate truces.

After Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated on 31 July 2024, Hamas appointed Yahya Sinwar as the movement’s new “overall leader” and chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau. After his death in 2024, his brother Mohammed Sinwar became leader of Hamas until his presumed assassination – not confirmed death – on 13 May 2025 in an Israeli airstrike.

As for the PLO, it has had since its creation four Chairmen, namely, Ahmad Shukeiri, Yahya Hammuda, Yasser Arafat and the present Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas have both been over the course of years the Chairman of Fatah as well, and since Fatah’s integration to the PLO, they became officially at the head of the PLO, and they have both been the presidents of Palestine. Hamas’ Aziz Dweik was the Interim Head of State (Palestinian National Authority) from January 2009 to June 2014, with Mahmoud Abbas being the President (from January 2005 till date).

As of March 2025, 147 out of the 193 United Nations member states – just over 75% – recognize the State of Palestine as a sovereign nation. Since November 2012, it has held the status of a non-member observer state in the UN General Assembly, the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations being Riyad Mansour.

 

Due to the incessant bombings and persecutions of the Palestinian people, the world is slowly but surely awakening to the Palestinian cause. Israel’s evil-minded plans will not succeed against those who rightly belong to this Land. The Palestinians, whether Muslim or Christian have the right to live in harmony in the land which have witnessed to their persecutions, all for the sake of Justice. Jews in the land of Palestine have been taught to exterminate Muslim-Arab identity in Palestine. In their mission to erase the Muslim identity from Palestine, they have also martyred many Christians as well. Some of the International Jewish communities in the world fight for the rights of the Palestinians. Only extremist Zionists (for every Jew wish that the land of Palestine become theirs in heritage, but only extremists in this cause venture to give a bad name to the Children of Israel, whether by pure bloodline or spiritual affinity). 

O Allah! I will keep on beseeching you for the tears of my spiritual children in Palestine, and the rest of the Muslim world who are suffering persecutions in many ways due to their belongingness to Islam. Whether they believe in my advent as their Saviour or not, O Allah, have mercy on them, give them back their land and re-establish for them their dignity, honour and freedom to practice their faith in peace and harmony.

 

O Allah! Destroy their evil-minded tormentors, and transform the hearts of the Muslim Countries and the world to their calls of despair. Manifest Your mercy on them, O my Just Lord, the All-Powerful, and make the descendants of the Zionists become true Muslims and submit to You alone, and bring back the true heritage of Hazrat Musa (as) and Hazrat Dawud (as) through their allegiance to the Seal of all prophets Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) and all Your appointed elects to the world. O Allah, reinforce the people of Palestine with the Holy Spirit (Ruh’il Quddus) to recognise the Divine Manifestation of this era, and bless them with true insight in matters of Deen, and bring back their days of glory, by Your Honour and Mercy, O the Most Compassionate Lord. Ameen, Summa Ameen, Ya Rabbal Aalameen.

---Friday Sermon of 23 May 2025 ~ 24 Dhul Qaddah 1446 AH delivered by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius.