Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abdallah Abu Shawesh, has said the country was not under the captivity of Hamas, an acronym of the organisation’s official name, the Islamic Resistance Movement.
The envoy who spoke at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday said the claim by the Israeli government that it is trying to free the Palestinians from Hamas was a distraction.
He said: “We are not under the captivity of Hamas, it’s Israel’s excuse to justify their occupation.
“Is it that to free me, you will kill me? If that is a way to help the Palestinians, we can’t accept it.”
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He explained that Hamas, like other organisations in Palestine, were resisting the Israeli occupation, arguing that Hamas had never attacked any other country.
Ambassador Shawesh said the Palestinians had never solicited Israel’s help to free them from Hamas, pointing out that Hamas was created 20 years after Israel’s occupation.
It is over a month since Israel declared its war against Hamas, and the envoy said the relentless bombardments have deprived the entire population of all their basic needs for survival.
“It’s a very dangerous stage where we have become used to counting the numbers of the slaughtered people, home destructions, injuries, and so on and so forth, without any emotional feeling towards the victims.
“The death toll among the Palestinians in Gaza exceeded 10500, 4800 are children and 2550 are women, while the injured are 24808. 2660 still missing under the rubble, and 1270 are children.
“According to the UN 70% of the Palestinian people became internally displaced persons. All these are not mere numbers, they are shattered dreams, hopes and aspirations,” he said.
