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Hamas Political Bureau member Khalil Al-Hayya, who also serves as the head of Hamas's Arab and Islamic Relations Portfolio, said in a March 19, 2023 interview on Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) that Hamas's confrontations with Israel are the "greatest gift" to anyone who hates occupation. He said that Israel is the "head of the serpent" and that by fighting it, Hamas weakens its evil influence around the world. Al-Hayya also praised the aid Qatar gives to the Palestinians and particularly to the Gaza Strip. Speaking about the recent rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Al-Haya said that Hamas's relations with Iran are focused on its support of the Palestinian enterprise. He added that Iran supports Hamas and other "resistance forces" by providing them with money and weapons.
Khalil Al-Hayya: "As a resistance movement, we want countries and people to support us, because we, Hamas, are fighting the head of the serpent which harms the world by its very existence. The head of the serpent is in Palestine. It is the Israeli occupation. We are fighting the head of the serpent. We are weakening its limbs throughout the world. This is our commitment to our nation.
"We believe that Israel is involved in all the evil in every country of the world. Therefore, by weakening Israel and preoccupying it in Palestine, we are weakening its bad influence abroad. Therefore, I believe that we, in Hamas, and the Palestinian people through our raging confrontation with the Israeli occupation of Palestine, are giving the greatest gift to all the free men, patriots, Arabs, Muslims, and human beings who hate the occupation in al its shapes and forms.
"As for the question whether Syria wants anything from us — it never asked us for anything. The only thing they said was: 'Consider Syria as your own country, and you are welcome everywhere.' Whenever we visited Syria, they said we are always welcome there.
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"Our Saudi brother decided to take some distance from us, and describe us in inappropriate terms."
Interviewer: "Saudi Arabia was engaged in a confrontation with Iran, and you are allies of Iran, so the natural conclusion was that Hamas should be viewed as a rival."
Al-Hayya: "First of all, the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran..."
Interviewer: "Now there is a Saudi-Iranian rapprochement."
Al-Hayya: "We have heard about it and we hope that it is true. The Saudi-Iranian conflict lasted for many years, yet we had great relations with our brothers in Saudi Arabia, and would meet with Saudi officials and with the Saudi king. At the same time, we had relations with Iran. We would hold talks in Iran despite our relations with Saudi Arabia, and vice versa. Nobody objected. Nobody banned us. Our relations with Iran did not strain our relations with Saudi Arabia.
"However, due to circumstances, like the Arab Spring and several problems, Saudi Arabia pulled back on its relations with us, and arrested some Palestinians and some of our brothers [in Hamas]. This was the reason for the cooling of the relations. Saudi Arabia is important to us as a country, and due to its status. We are not in a position to give up on an Arab country, but it is not up to us to decide about these relations.
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"Qatar has taken upon itself to extend aid to the Palestinian people, and we are sitting here as guests of our brothers in Qatar. We thank them every day for that. It is no wonder that thousands of Palestinians in Gaza pray for Qatar, day and night. What Qatar is doing for the Palestinians in general and the Gaza Strip in particular is appreciated and will be written in history books in letters of gold."
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"Our relations with our brothers in Iran clearly revolve around their support for the Palestinian cause and for the resistance. We do not interfere in Iran's policies and foreign relations. We always appreciate all those who support us and the Palestinian people. Iran stands by the Palestinian people and the resistance in any way it can."
Interviewer: "In what way? What is the nature of their support?"
Al-Hayya: "Iran supports us politically, and stands by the resistance as an enterprise. It supports Hamas and the resistance forces and helps us with money and weapons. It gives us all that is required in this aspect, and pays a price for it. We thank whoever extends us a helping hand. "
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