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Abd Al-Salam Haniyeh, son of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in late July, talked in an interview with SamaQuds that was posted on YouTube on August 15, 2024, about the beauty of Gaza in recent years. He said that people who visited the Gaza Strip in 2020-2021 couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. Haniyeh said that following the 2008-2009 conflict with Israel, Gaza received world attention through Al-Jazeera and other media outlets, which led to convoys intended at breaking the siege and the tunnels started becoming active. He continued to say that when the Emir of Qatar visited the Gaza Strip in 2012, this was "a time of progress," and the reconstruction process had begun. Haniyeh stated: "The kind of beauty that was there [in Gaza] could not be found in many Arab countries."
Abd Al-Salam Haniyeh: "After the 2008-2009 [war], the world opened up [to Gaza]. For the first time, a huge thing happened. There were 1,200 martyrs, and there was destruction...I don't know...The world, Al-Jazeera TV, the media, there was an Arab summit, and people were sympathizing. It was a big deal.
"The convoys to break the siege started...These convoys started, the tunnels began to be active, and whatever...Then there was the Arab Spring and then, in 2013...It was a time of progress, and [in 2012], the emir of Qatar came, and laid the cornerstone for the reconstruction. All this has turned Gaza...
"People who came to Gaza in 2020-2021 could not believe that this was Gaza, because it was so beautiful – buildings, the Doha Promenade, the Egypt Promenade, restaurants, and so on and so forth...
"Who would have thought that this was besieged Gaza, which had been through wars? The kind of beauty that was there could not be found in many Arab countries.
"If [my father] really cared about himself, he could have signed an agreement, and a red carpet would have been rolled out for him."
Interviewer: "Was he offered such a thing?"
Haniyeh: "He was offered many things."
Interviewer: "What, for example?"
Haniyeh: "He talked about what was offered to him as part of the Deal of the Century. He said that Kushner [told] a mediator that he wanted to come over, and reach an agreement about the Deal of the Century, and the establishment of a [Palestinian] state in Gaza, and billions would be spent on Gaza, and they would hand over the weapons of the resistance, and so on...
He then famously said: 'May our hands be paralyzed, if we sign an agreement that will separate Gaza from Palestine.'"
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