Hamas wants peace but reserves right to armed resistance

Hamas says it is after peace, but will nonetheless resume armed resistance, should Israel refuse to cease its regular attacks on the Gaza Strip.

"Now, for the most part they [Israelis] have stopped the daily aggression. That's why we're not firing rockets," said Ahmad Yousef, a foreign affairs adviser to democratically elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.

Yousef warned that the Palestinian resistance movement reserved the right to defend itself, and would use “whatever weapons they have in their hands” against Israeli “aggression and incursions,” Ma'an news agency reported on Friday.

On the issue of the formation of a Palestinian state, Yousef stressed that Hamas' stance is 'crystal clear', adding that the resistance movement endorses a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. Moreover, he dismissed that the movement had become more moderate.

"Our political platform is clear in the sense that we will accept peaceful resolutions that liberate our people from occupation…Our political platform is consistent on the willingness to sit down and discuss issues including historic Palestine and the refugees' right of return."

"However, we will not relinquish our right to resistance," he underscored.

When questioned about the likelihood of another military confrontation with Tel Aviv, Yousef said if the condition on the ground did not change, armed resistance against Israel's occupation would be inevitable.

"If the situation will continue like this, if the world community doesn't do anything and also the occupation is still the same and the sanctions have not been lifted and Gaza is still under siege, then of course the people will resort to military resistance."