TEL AVIV – The editor-in-chief of a Saudi daily this week slammed Gaza-based terror group Hamas for exploiting the Palestinian cause to benefit Iran in its quest to “take over the Arab world.”
Writing in Okaz, Jamil Al-Dhiabi lashed out at deputy Hamas political chief Moussa Abu Marzouq, accusing him of being “corrupt” and “bought with money.”
Abu Marzouk, according to the Okaz editor, is “living off of and benefit[ing] from selling out the [Palestinian] cause in order to actualize the aspirations of Iran, and to transmit Hezbollah’s criminal plans and schemes,” as per a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
The article came in response to backlash from Hamas over the Arab League’s recent designation of Iranian proxy Hezbollah as a terror organization. At an emergency meeting convened in Cairo on November 19, Arab states accused Hezbollah of “supporting terrorism and terrorist organizations” by, among other things, supplying terror groups with “advanced weapons and ballistic missiles.”
Hamas issued a statement attacking the Arab League designation, saying that Hezbollah was a “resistance organization” and adding that it was shocked at the announcement’s failure to include any “reference to the Zionist terrorism that is implemented daily towards the Palestinian people, their land and their holy places.”
From his personal Twitter account, Abu Marzouq posted: “Hezbollah is not a terror organization, and if this designation is accepted, we can all expect a similar fate. We must all agree to direct the Arab political focus [at] Palestine and Jerusalem.”
In a separate tweet, he wrote: “The Arab foreign ministers’ decision to characterize Hezbollah as terrorist does not stem from its involvement in dear Syria, but is aimed at confronting Iran and the elements connected to it.”
He added that by focusing on Iran, the Arab states were diverting their focus from the real issue, which is Israel.
Al-Dhiabi slammed Abu Marzouq’s statements, and said that Hamas was supporting the “Iranian destruction.”
“The terrorist Hezbollah being the clearest embodiment of this destruction and its trends – this agenda will transcend the borders of the Gaza Strip,” he said. “The Arab League’s designation of [Hezbollah] as a terrorist organization did not come out of nowhere… [but] is grounded in evidence backed by documents about the essence of Hezbollah, the goals of its plans and its interventions as an Iranian proxy with the aim of taking over the Arab world.”
Abu Marzouq, Al-Dhiabi concluded, is an “ungrateful ideologue.”
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