Hamas Official: Israeli Elections Won’t End Occupation

Gaza, MINA – Ali Baraka, head of Hamas’s National Relations Department abroad, said on Tuesday that Israeli elections would not fundamentally change Israel’s policies toward Palestinians, arguing that political competition between leaders such as Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot would neither end the occupation nor restore Palestinian rights, according to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC).

Speaking on the 109th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, Baraka described Britain’s 1917 pledge to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine as a historic colonial crime that paved the way for the Nakba, Palestinian displacement, and Israeli occupation. He stressed that Palestinian national and historical rights remain unchanged despite the passage of 109 years, reaffirming Palestinians’ determination to secure freedom, return to their homes, and reclaim their rights.

Baraka said the anniversary comes amid Israel’s continuing genocidal war on Gaza, starvation, blockade, and destruction, alongside escalating settlement expansion, displacement, and annexation plans in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

He called on Britain to acknowledge its historical responsibility for the Balfour Declaration, halt arms supplies to Israel, and support efforts to hold Israeli leaders accountable before international courts.

Addressing Israeli elections, Baraka argued that Netanyahu, Eisenkot, and other political figures share fundamental policies aimed at maintaining occupation, settlements, and restrictions on Palestinians despite their political differences.

“Zionist elections may replace one criminal with another, but they will not end the occupation or restore rights to their rightful owners,” he said.

Baraka urged Palestinians not to rely on changes in Israeli governments, but instead to strengthen national unity, resilience, and a comprehensive national strategy. He reaffirmed Palestinian refugees’ right of return under international resolutions, particularly UN General Assembly Resolution 194, and rejected proposals involving permanent resettlement, displacement, or an alternative homeland.

Baraka also called for rebuilding the Palestine Liberation Organization on inclusive and democratic foundations, ensuring the participation of all Palestinian factions and communities at home and abroad. He stressed the need for a unified national strategy to achieve Palestinian liberation, return, and independence.

Baraka’s assessment comes as Israel’s election results leave no bloc with a governing majority. Netanyahu’s bloc secured 53 seats, opposition parties 48, and Arab parties 19 in the 120 member Knesset, with neither side reaching the 61 seats required to form a government. President Isaac Herzog is expected to consult parliamentary factions after official results are announced on November 4, and the new Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in on November 10.

The deadlock has prompted Arab parties to meet in an effort to coordinate efforts to replace the Netanyahu government, while Eisenkot has promised to quickly make use of the opposition’s Knesset majority. Yet Baraka’s argument is that the composition of any coalition will not alter the structural policies that sustain occupation, a view echoed by other Palestinian factions that have described Israeli elections as deepening extremism without changing the essence of policies toward Palestinians.

His remarks also tie the present political moment back to the Balfour Declaration, framing the election as a contest within a colonial system rather than a referendum on it. That framing underpins Hamas’s call for Palestinian self-reliance and national unity rather than reliance on shifts in Israeli politics, and it explains the emphasis on rebuilding the PLO and pursuing a unified strategy.[]

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)