Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank condemned President Trump’s announcement that Israel and Morocco agreed to normalize ties between the two nations — the fourth such agreement between Israel and an Arab country in four months.
Hamas, the Gaza Strip’s de facto authority, quickly published a statement of condemnation and denouncement of Morocco’s decision to normalize ties with Israel.
“We consider that the Kingdom of Morocco took this step as a betrayal of the Palestinian people and their just cause, and a coup against Morocco’s historical position in rejecting the occupation,” the statement said.
Furthermore, Hamas called on Moroccans to reject the decision and continue boycotting Israel.
“We call upon the authentic Moroccan people and all our free peoples to reject this agreement and all the cheap normalization agreements, and continue boycotting the Zionist occupation and not accept it at all, whatever the circumstance or temptation,” Hamas stated.
In a similar statement, Palestinian Islamic Jihad issued a press release condemning the normalization of ties as a betrayal of the fundamentals of Islam.
“The normalization of relations with the occupation state by the ruling regime in Morocco is a betrayal of the fundamentals of Islam and Arabism and the alienation of Jerusalem and Palestine, the series of Arab regimes scrambling towards the Zionist entity will be a curse on them,” the statement said.
Other Palestinian factions such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine published statements sharing the theme of condemnation and betrayal of the Palestinian cause.
“The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine confirms that the announcement of the normalization of Moroccan relations with the Zionist enemy this evening by U.S. President Donald Trump is a black day in the history of our people and our Arab nation,” the PFLP stated.
The statements of denouncement and condemnation from Palestinian factions have become the norm since the United Arab Emirates began the recent wave of Arab-Israeli normalization deals in August.
For decades Palestinian militant groups relied on a unified Arab-Islamic front to support them politically and militarily against Israel. However, the change in attitude of some Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel is weakening the Palestinian position.
One example is Saudi Arabia’s change in stance toward Hamas over the recent years. Although there are no diplomatic relations with Israel – which some say will inevitably happen – the Saudis have taken a harsh line against Hamas’ activity in its country.
As previously covered in FDD’s Long War Journal, Saudi Arabia jailed members of Hamas under the charges of belonging to a ‘terrorist entity’ and ‘supporting and financing a terrorist organization’ in 2019.
As more Arab countries move toward normalizing relations with Israel in the future, the result is likely to weaken the support Palestinian militant groups receive from the Arab countries which may ultimately force them into a long-term compromise with Israel.
