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Father Manuel Musallam, a member of the Islamic-Christian Committee for the Support of Jerusalem and Holy Sites, said Monday that international initiatives concerning the Gaza Strip are aimed at weakening and disarming the Palestinian resistance, asserting that such efforts are “doomed to fail.”
In press remarks, Musallam said the weapons of the Palestinian resistance “will not be taken away by anyone — not the United States, nor anyone else,” arguing that Israel, not Gaza, should be placed under international trusteeship “for the war crimes and genocide committed against the Palestinian people.”
He accused the United States of being a “direct partner” in the suffering of Palestinians because of its “military and political support for Israel,” describing the American vision for Gaza as “a failed attempt to disarm the Palestinians — an illusion that will never be realised.”
Musallam added that Palestinians “do not trust the United States, Europe, or some Arab regimes,” stressing that Israel has failed to achieve security “through military force” after two years of war. True security, he said, “can only come through recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people, not through force and killing.”
He argued that the continuation of Palestinian armed resistance would increase Israel’s isolation and exposure to international prosecution, ultimately leading to its defeat.
The Israeli war on Gaza, waged with U.S. and Western support since October 2023 has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians and wounded over 170,000, the vast majority women and children. Over 90 per cent of the Strip’s buildings have been destroyed. Israeli forces have continued bombardment and home demolitions despite last month’s ceasefire agreement, resulting in hundreds of additional casualties and severe restrictions on the entry of food and medical supplies.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
