Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, stated that the Palestinian decision must remain solely in the hands of Palestinians, emphasizing that recent events in Gaza clearly revealed attempts to marginalize the entire Palestinian cause, not just to strip away independent national decision-making.

Barghouti added in an interview with Al Arabi channel on Saturday evening that “the original plan of Trump, Netanyahu, and Israel was to liquidate the Palestinian cause and reduce it to a secondary issue between Arab countries and Israel, bypassed through the Abraham Accords,” explaining that “those plans failed after the Palestinians forcefully brought their cause back to the table despite all normalization attempts.”

He pointed out that “Israel is now more isolated than ever before, and the image of its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sharply declined,” noting that “Netanyahu, who portrayed himself as an imperial dominant leader in the Middle East, has shrunk and is now in a position of weakness and embarrassment.”

Barghouti added that the scene inside Israel reflects this decline, citing what happened when Netanyahu’s name was mentioned before more than 400,000 protesters in an Israeli square, where cries of denunciation against him rose; causing embarrassment for the American envoy Steve Witkoff.

He also referred to an article by Israeli journalist Levinson in Haaretz newspaper, stating that “Israel is still just a village with an air force,” indicating that the resistance imposed its will on the course of events.

He stressed that “the current phase represents both an unprecedented challenge and a historic opportunity for Palestinians, as they enjoy broad global popular support, making national unity and the unification of the Palestinian stance the decisive factor in confronting attempts at liquidation and marginalization.”