Khaled Meshaal on Gaza, Syria, and the long road of Palestinian resistance

Khaled Meshaal, who continues to lead Hamas outside Palestine, recently gave a 52-minute exclusive interview to Al Jazeera television. With his usual seriousness, Meshaal answered the questions in a persuasive and detailed manner, and there are many points in his remarks worth underlining. In particular, his assessments of where the Palestinian resistance stands today and his comments regarding Syria contain points that especially deserve to be highlighted.

Meshaal summarized his views on the current state of the Palestinian resistance as follows:“The Palestinian cause is today more visible and more widely known than at any time in its history. The Palestinian cause used to be locked away in a drawer; now it is on the table. Israel’s reputation worldwide has been seriously damaged. All the advertising and image investments it has made so far have gone to waste.

Now everyone, on every platform, is criticizing the Zionists. The younger generations of the Islamic ummah have reclaimed the Palestinian cause. Yes, the price has been heavy, that is true. But this should not be forgotten: freedoms always come at a heavy cost.For the period ahead, we have two expectations: 1) an international initiative to rebuild Gaza and urgently meet people’s shelter needs, 2) an end to external interventions in Palestine; Palestine should be governed only by Palestinians.

”Meshaal’s emphasis on “ending external interventions in Palestine and having Palestine governed only by Palestinians” is, of course, a statement directed at certain actors within the Arab world. It is no secret that some states are working on formulas that would exclude Hamas by directly intervening in Palestinian politics.In response to the host’s question, “Over the past two years, dizzying developments have taken place in our region. Iran’s power has been eroded. Hezbollah has taken heavy blows. The Assad regime in Syria has fallen and a new administration has come to power. Amid all these developments, where does Hamas stand?”, Meshaal’s answer constituted—using media terminology—the highlight of the interview:“Throughout its long march, Hamas has received help and support from all Arab and Islamic countries. The amount, type, and scope of this support have changed over time. Hamas’s door is open to everyone, and it maintains relations with everyone. We owe gratitude to everyone who has stood by us so far. However, Hamas has never fully surrendered itself to any single axis while turning its back on other circles in the Arab and Islamic world. We respect all countries and do not interfere in any of their internal affairs. From the very beginning, Hamas has relied only on itself. For this reason, any decline in the power of one of its supporters does not lead to collapse within Hamas.

We had relations with the former regime in Syria. But when the crisis erupted [with the Arab Spring], disputes arose between us and we left Syria. We do not belong to or follow any camp. We act independently. We have our own rules, principles, and values. We are genuinely and sincerely happy for the freedom that the Syrian people have attained today. All peoples in the Arab world likewise deserve freedom and dignity.”Khaled Meshaal has always acted along his own independent line within Hamas on the Syria issue. After the Baath regime began attacking civilians, he personally took the decision for the movement to leave Damascus, for example. Likewise, during his famous visit to Gaza in 2012, we saw him waving the Free Syrian flag in front of tens of thousands of people. In the period that followed, he stood out as a figure who consistently advocated balance in relations with Iran. While figures such as Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, and Khalil al-Hayya conceived relations with Iran as a “strategic partnership” and a “shared destiny,” Meshaal remained closer to the Türkiye–Qatar axis. He was even sidelined and pushed to the margins for this reason. That such a division existed within Hamas was, in any case, an obvious reality to anyone closely following the movement.

Khaled Meshaal is one of the very few political leaders in the Arab world with what can be described as a “strategic mind.” The way he grasps events and the proposals he puts forward show that he does not lose sight of realities on the ground. However, the current environment in the Middle East is unfortunately not conducive to benefiting from Meshaal’s accumulated experience. One wishes he would write his memoirs in detail and place his testimony of this period on record.