A demonstrator holds a Palestinian flag as tear gas is fired by Israeli forces during a protest against normalizing ties with Israel, in Kafr Qaddum town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank September 11, 2020. (Photo by Reuters)

The deputy head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance says normalization with Israel has no benefit for the Palestinians and only serves the regime’s interests, describing armed resistance as the sole way to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation.

Sheikh Naim Qassem made the remarks in a virtual address to a summit held in the holy Iranian city of Qom on the strategies for ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

He said that the occupying entity enjoys military and political support from superpowers and thus cannot be eliminated through reliance on the laws they themselves have come up with.

The big powers, he added, see their interest in protecting and legitimizing the occupation; therefore, the situation would change in favor of Palestine and other regional states by begging those powers.

We should make efforts for the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem al-Quds, and this will not be possible except through military resistance along with other forms of resistance, namely cultural, political, social resistance and etc, but the main focus of our work must be armed resistance, Sheikh Qassem said.

How could we take back the land of Palestine? We will take it back with our own hands, through fighting, jihad (endeavor for the sake of God) and resistance. This is the only way forward for us, he stressed.

Sheikh Qassem also denounced as a betrayal of Palestine and Jerusalem al-Quds the latest moves by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain to normalize with Israel.

Normalizing ties only serves the interests of Israel and has no benefit for Palestine and the Palestinian cause, he said, adding that the measure is a trump card in the hands of the Zionist regime to exert more pressure on the Palestinians in order to deprive them of their rights.

The Hezbollah official also stressed that neither Persian Gulf Arab countries longing for normalization with Israel nor those conspiring against Palestine can decide for the oppressed Palestinian nation.

The normalization challenge is an opportunity for us to separate the supporters of Palestine from the servants of Israel. The axis of resistance is the only axis that works in line with the interests of Palestine and will build the future. That is why the UAE and anyone who normalizes with Israel will get nothing but shame, he underlined.

He further noted that the victories achieved by the resistance front in the region, including those of Yemeni, Syrian and Iraqi fighters, serve the Palestinian cause.

The Hezbollah official further emphasized the need for the axis of resistance to maintain its cohesion and cooperation.