The Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Azerbaijan, Nasir Abdul Karim, has given an exclusive interview to AZERTAC. Here is the interview.

- Mr. Ambassador, what were the reasons for Hamas's attack on Israel?

- Welcome you to the Embassy of the State of Palestine. The events that unfolded on October 7 should be viewed in the context of the conflict. What happened did not start on October 7. The roots of these developments go back 75 years, when the Palestinian people began to undergo systematic ethnic cleansing as a result of the longest occupation in modern human history. Israel kills children and Palestinian citizens every day, confiscates and impounds their land, builds Jewish settlements in our territories, which we consider colonial settlements, settles colonists there, which it calls new settlers. Residents of these settlements are the most radical people in Israeli society. This is a war crime in itself according to international law. Since 1993, their number has increased four times.

Gaza has been under blockade for 17 years. Israel controls everything in Gaza. Palestine has neither air nor sea sovereignty over Gaza. Israel systematically closes the border checkpoints used by citizens in Gaza. All this puts systematic pressure on the Palestinian people. In addition, Israel has been attacking schools, sometimes hospitals and other civilian places in Palestine for all these years.

Occupation is an act of violence in itself. Occupation is a form of terrorism. The Palestinian people have not come to terms with the Israeli occupation since 1963. The occupation and violence continue every day. Palestinians recognized Israel in 1993. Palestine accepted peace with Israel on the condition that a Palestinian State be established on only 22 percent of its historic territory, including East Jerusalem. However, although more than two-thirds of the world's countries recognize the State of Palestine, Israel does not. As I said, the events taking place on a daily basis, the killings, the seizures of land, Israel’s control over Gaza's coastal waters and many areas of life, ongoing raids on Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem – all these are the main causes for today's events. We have a saying that the only thing Israel does not control in the life of the Palestinian people is the air they breathe. The technology to control the air people breathe has not yet been created.

The situation Israel found itself in on Saturday, October 7, is exactly what the Palestinian people have been facing by Israel for 75 years. In other words, what the Palestinian people faced for 75 years happened to Israel in just one day – on October 7. And it is the natural result of every violent and military act that carries oppression and persecution. This is not just colonial occupation, but also the imposition of a racist apartheid regime in the Palestinian territories, according to international organizations. Observers from Human Right Watch, Amnesty International, the UN and many other international organizations point out that Israel, in addition to implementing a cruel colonial policy, is applying apartheid against the Palestinian people.

The Palestinian leadership, President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian government have been talking about this for years. They were saying that the situation was heading towards an explosion. Because, as I mentioned, although Palestine recognizes Israel and fulfills all the obligations arising from the agreements reached, Israel closed all the peace path that could lead to the creation of two neighboring states. This is what caused HAMAS to take this step. HAMAS was founded in 1988, but the Israeli occupation has been going on for 75 years. If we start counting from 1967, we will see that it was this occupation led to the creation of HAMAS. If there had been no occupation, there would be no HAMAS. The solution lies in stopping this violence. What Israel is doing is the genocide of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. If we could end the Israeli occupation, we could stop this genocide, avoid it and save the lives of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis.