Credit: netanyahutwitter.com /   Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chad President meet in Chad capital city N’djamen Jan. 20, 2019.

By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Chad’s normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel is “a stab in the back” against the Palestinian cause, the Hamas organization said.  Israel and Chad renewed diplomatic ties Sunday that had been severed nearly half a century, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in the African nation’s capital city of N’djamen.   Chad is a Muslim-majority north-central African country bordering , Libya and Sudan.  Netanyahu’s visit to Chad is the  first by an Israeli premier since relations between the two countries soured decades ago. Hamas is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamist fundamentalist organization widely viewed as a terrorist group.

Netanyahu said the  “the Iranians and Palestinians were upset about the trip and tried to stop it but failed,”  adding that there would be additional trips in the future to Muslim countries, according to The Jerusalem Post.    Hamas further called on the N’Djamena government to reconsider the move, according to presstv.com.     

The Palestinian movement further denounced Chad’s policy shift “as a stab in the back of the Palestinian people and their just cause” against the Israeli occupation of their homeland. In a statement on Monday, Hamas condemned Chad’s involvement in a “dangerous wave of normalization with the Israeli occupation.”

“While Hamas realizes the dangerous repercussions of normalization with the Israeli occupation on the Palestinian cause, it calls on Chad to reconsider its move, isolate the Israeli occupation, and continue supporting the Palestinian people’s freedom struggle against the occupation,”

Hamas statement.

PM Netanyahu characterized the resumption of diplomatic relations as a historic moment. “We view the resumption of relations as the key to future cooperation for the benefit of both countries, he said via twitter. Chad cut off diplomatic relations with Israel in 1972. 

“The purpose of your visit is to bring our two countries closer and to cooperate,”

Deby told the Israeli premier. 

Chad President Deby stated that he happily welcomed several agreements he has signed with Netanyahu, including the renewal of diplomatic ties, according to  haaretz.com.   Netanyahu said that Israel was announcing today “a renewal of diplomatic ties with Chad and making a breakthrough for the Arab and Muslim world.”