The head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, confirmed today, Sunday, that the movement’s response to the ceasefire proposal is consistent with the foundations of US President Joe Biden’s speech and the UN Security Council’s resolution regarding the Gaza Strip.
This came in a speech by Haniyeh on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, which fell today, days after official American accusations against Hamas of moving away from the proposal presented by Biden at the end of last May.
On June 10, the Council adopted a draft American resolution calling for a ceasefire, and Hamas welcomed it at the time and said it would deal with it positively.
Last Tuesday, the Palestinian resistance factions handed over to the mediators the response to the three-stage Israeli proposal presented by Biden.
Subsequently, the US administration accused Hamas of obstructing reaching an agreement, saying that “Hamas’ conditions cannot be implemented,” referring to the movement’s demand to declare a permanent ceasefire, which is rejected by Israel, which insists on returning its detainees before ending the war.
Hamas had clarified through one of its leaders, in statements to Reuters, that the amendments it requested were “not significant” and included the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and assurances of Israel’s agreement to end the war, and not to return to fighting after the end of the first phase of the truce.
Since the end of the previous truce at the beginning of last December, the indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel have faced many obstacles, as a result of the occupation’s insistence on continuing its aggression under the pretext of “achieving the goals of the war, recovering detainees, and achieving progress in the talks through military pressure.”
Occupiers on all fronts
Haniyeh said in his speech, “Another holiday passes for Palestine as it struggles and strives against the occupiers on all fronts.” He added, “Our people are experiencing a stifling siege and the harshest types of suffering, from displacement to displacement, from bombing to bombing, from loss to loss, in a journey of suffering the likes of which history has never known.”
Haniyeh stressed that “the Israeli occupation will only see more resistance, steadfastness and belonging from the people of Palestine.” He continued, “The criminal enemy, which is committing brutal genocide, has failed to achieve any of its declared goals, and signs of disintegration have appeared in its government, which portends its defeat and collapse.”
Haniyeh added that the occupation continues its attempts to deceive and deceive to obtain prisoners and resume the war of extermination.
Amid a severe food shortage in the Gaza Strip, he called on “everyone to take action to force the enemy to open all crossings and bring in all the needs of our people immediately and urgently.”
This year, the holiday falls while Israel has launched, since October 7, a war on Gaza that has left more than 122,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens, most of them children.