Fatah Revolutionary Council Member Mohammed Al-Hourani: The Palestinians – Not Iran – Should Decide When To Stop The War, Since They Are The Ones Dying; Iran Views Us Through The Lens Of Their Calculations For Regional Influence

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Mohammed Al-Hourani said in a June 4, 2024 interview on Al-Mashhad TV (UAE) that it should be the people who are fighting and who die who get to decide when to stop fighting and when to agree to ceasefire deals. He criticized the apparent involvement of Iran and its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Hamas's October 7, 2023 Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, saying that Hamas is rejecting the hostage exchange deal presented by U.S. President Joe Biden at Khamenei's directive. He said that the Palestinian leadership has been right to refer to this as blatant interference and disdain for Palestinian blood, and he said that the Iranians should look at the Palestinians from a humanitarian perspective instead of through the lens of their "calculations" for regional influence.

Al Hourani: “The people who die on the battlefield get to decide when to stop [the war], how to die, and what deal to sign should they choose to. However, when you hear such contradictory statements, coming out of Iran and its Supreme Leader Khamenei... If you remember, following October 7, he said: 'We did not decide on the timing, did not ask for this, we are out of the loop.' This was when the threats intensified, and there was a chance of confrontation between Iran and the U.S government.

"Later we heard that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was part of the retaliation for the killing of Soleimani. Today, at this sensitive moment, when there is an initiative presented by Biden, Israel rejects the initiative because Khamenei says [to Hamas]: Do not accept this initiative and continue fighting. As if all the destruction, losses, wounded people, martyrs, and all the pain that follows is not enough.

"So the Palestinian leadership was right to say that this is a blatant interference and disdain for the blood of the Palestinians. Honestly, we would like the Iranians to think about us from a humanitarian perspective, rather than focus on the calculations of their regional influence. The Palestinian blood is much more precious than that.”