Today, Friday, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) called on the international community to put pressure on Israel by all means to end the ongoing crimes of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
The movement confirmed, in a statement on the occasion of International Human Solidarity Day, that the Israeli aggression led to the martyrdom and injury of more than 152,000 Palestinians, including women and children, in addition to more than 11,000 missing persons.
Hamas said that the International Human Solidarity Day, which was approved by the United Nations General Assembly, “comes to remind once again of the extent of the crimes and the ugliness of aggression and genocidal war committed by the Zionist occupation against our people in the Gaza Strip over the course of 441 days.”
The statement stressed the need to hold Israel and its leaders legally and politically responsible for the crimes committed, noting that these violations are among the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history.
Hamas also called on the international community to assume its moral and humanitarian responsibilities towards the Palestinian people, and called for Israeli leaders to be tried before international courts for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Opinion poll
On the other hand, an opinion poll published by the Hebrew newspaper Maariv on Friday showed that the majority of Israelis support reaching a comprehensive prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, even if that requires stopping military operations in the Gaza Strip.
According to the results of the survey:
- 74% of Israelis support a comprehensive deal to release all prisoners in exchange for a ceasefire.
- 84% of opposition party supporters support this agreement.
- 57% of government coalition voters support the deal.
- Only 16% support a partial deal, while 10% have not specified their position.
The same poll revealed a potential change in the balance of Israeli political power if elections were held today, as the results indicate that:
- Parties opposing Netanyahu may obtain 61 seats out of 120 in the Knesset, enough to form a new government.
- Parties supporting Netanyahu decline to 49 seats.
- Arab representatives get 10 seats.
Recent months have witnessed an escalation in the activity of families of Israeli prisoners who are pressuring the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude a deal with Hamas, and the opposition and families of prisoners have directed sharp criticism at Netanyahu, accusing him of obstructing efforts to achieve the agreement in order to preserve the stability of his government.