The leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Izzat al-Rishq, confirmed on Thursday that removing the movement or its leaders from the Gaza Strip is an “Israeli illusion” that will not be achieved.
This came in response to reports about the possibility of Hamas leaders leaving Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal in the Strip and an exchange of prisoners with the Israeli occupation.
Al-Rishq said on his account on the Telegram platform, “I do not usually comment on the ridiculous rumors spread by some media outlets,” adding that “Hamas is present in Palestine, fighting the enemy that occupies Palestine.”
He stressed that “removing Hamas or its leaders from Gaza is an Israeli dream and illusion that will not come true,” noting that “logic requires that the occupier leave and the people of the land and its original inhabitants remain.”
Earlier Thursday, press reports said, “There are new ideas circulating for a ceasefire that stipulates the safe exit of Hamas leaders and all its fighters from Gaza to Sudan.”
The reports added, “One of the ideas proposes the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, and the completion of a prisoner and detainee exchange deal, with the Palestinian Authority taking over the administration of the Strip in exchange for Hamas leaving through the Rafah crossing to Egypt, and then to Sudan, where it will obtain financial and political gains.”
She pointed out that “this proposal was well received by the parties concerned with stopping the war, which is approaching the end of its first year, in efforts to complete the exchange deal between the two parties.”
According to the same reports, “the Sudanese army agreed to host all Hamas leaders and fighters on its territory.”
Neither Israel, Sudan, nor the mediators commented on these reports.
The Israeli occupation estimates that there are 101 prisoners in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas announced that dozens of them were killed in random Israeli raids.
With the mediation of Egypt and Qatar and the support of the United States, Israel and Hamas conducted faltering indirect negotiations for months to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and an exchange of prisoners.
With absolute American support, the Israeli occupation forces have been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, resulting in more than 138,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded – most of them children and women – and more than 10,000 missing persons, amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of dozens of children, in One of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
In disdain for the international community, the Israeli occupation continues the war of genocide, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to stop it immediately and the orders of the International Court of Justice to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and to improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.