Vice President Pence at the Western Wall
Vice President Pence at the Western WallHillel Maeir/TPS

The Hamas-affiliated Al-Risala website on Tuesday republished an article from a Turkish news agency summarizing the positive aspects of U.S. President Donald Trump's December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The positive aspects of the American move are based on the analysis of three experts on international relations and international law, and include the following points:

  • Exposing the American position as being biased in favor of Israel
  • Raising international support for the recognition of the city of “Al-Quds” (the Arabic name for Jerusalem -ed.) and of “Palestine”
  • Formulation of a unified Arab position despite existing differences of opinion
  • Increasing popular Arab and Islamic awareness of the Palestinian problem
  • Strengthening international solidarity with the Palestinians
  • The undermining of security as a result of the normalization with Israel
  • Highlighting the Turkish role in supporting Islamic issues

Hamas initially reacted angrily to Trump’s Jerusalem move, as did Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, head of longtime Hamas rival Fatah, who declared he would "no longer accept" any peace plan proposed by the United States in wake of Trump's decision on Jerusalem.

Hamas urged the PA to cut off ties with the United States, after U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman criticized the PA’s response to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Mousa Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamas's political bureau who is one of the most senior members of the organization, recently said that the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993 are long dead and that all existing arrangements have nothing to do with those accords.