Hamas Targets Jordan Again… Provocative Statements via Iranian Channel
Media statements by a leader of the Hamas movement have targeted the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, reflecting contradictions in the Palestinian group’s discourse towards Jordan.
An informed Jordanian source, cited by Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, considered the statements of the leader, Moussa Abu Marzouk, on the Iranian channel Al-Alam, in which he talked about the Hamas leaders’ intention to go to Amman if forced to leave Qatar, as “provocative and futile” to reopen the issue of their return to the Kingdom they left in 1999 under former Prime Minister Abd al-Raouf al-Rawabdeh for security reasons.
The source said: “Abu Marzouk speaks as if there is no state in Jordan to decide what to do. Jordan has closed the chapter on the offices of the Palestinian factions and will not reopen them.”
In response to Abu Marzouk’s statements, the Jordanian source reiterated his country’s refusal to the presence of Hamas leaders on its territory, commenting on allusions to those holding Jordanian nationality among them and their right to return by saying: “Those who hold Jordanian citizenship and wish to return must completely sever their ties with any external organization.”
The same source emphasized that any possibility of return, in accordance with the conditions dictated by Jordanian interests and under the law, would involve “not allowing in any form the opening of any offices for any of the Palestinian organizations,” with Jordan announcing since the start of the war that “the Palestinian National Authority” is the legitimate representative of the State of Palestine and its accredited embassy in Amman.
Abu Marzouk’s statements preceded remarks about Jordan from Hamas‘ political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, from Istanbul, in his meeting with deputies of the “Reform” parliamentary bloc in Jordan affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, which revealed contradictions in the movement’s position towards the Kingdom, with some deputies present at the meeting reported to Al-Sabeel, the pro-Hamas newspaper, that Haniyeh had affirmed that he would not interfere in Jordan’s internal affairs, and a statement from Hamas confirming that Haniyeh attached special importance to Jordan in the Palestinian issue, praising the unity demonstrated by the Palestinian people through the Jordanian crowds that always express themselves, and affirming the unity of the two peoples.
On the other hand, media reports criticized Haniyeh for not expressing condolences, on behalf of the Hamas state, for the deaths of three of his sons and four of his grandchildren at once, from the duty of mourning, according to the reports.
These events came after statements by Hamas‘s foreign leader, Khaled Mashal, calling on millions of Jordanians to sustainably take to the streets until the end of the war and to cut relations with Israel.
Government Communication Minister and government spokesman Mahend Mbaydin criticized the statements of Hamas leaders, affirming that any attempt to incite the Jordanian state was a desperate attempt.
