Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas Abroad, Khaled Meshaal, said Israel resumed the war on Gaza as part of a premeditated agenda supported by the US to ensure Tel Aviv’s regional supremacy.
This came during a Zoom meeting organised by the Global Coalition to Support Jerusalem and Palestine yesterday, which focused on the recent developments in Gaza and the region as well as efforts to reinstate the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
Speaking at the meeting, Meshaal said Israel resumed the war to restore its image as a major regional power, not to exert pressure on Hamas to release more prisoners from Gaza as it claims.
At dawn on Tuesday, Israel launched fresh air strikes on Gaza killing more than 400 Palestinians and wounding hundreds more, in what was the deadliest day of strikes since October 2023.
Meshaal said the Israeli occupation targeted a number of Hamas officials and leaders in Gaza, along with their families, at dawn on Tuesday, killing entire families.
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Meshaal explained that Israel’s insistence on postponing the second phase of the ceasefire talks demonstrates its intention to focus solely on recovering its prisoners without halting the war, transforming Gaza into a lifeless zone, and thus implementing the displacement project.
He noted that Hamas was forced to continue the negotiations to fulfill its duty towards the Palestinian people and to stop the bloodshed.
“The [Israeli] occupation’s initial commitment to the ceasefire agreement, particularly regarding the prisoner exchange, was because it was forced to return some prisoners, not because it is a moral or humane entity. On the contrary, it consistently violates agreements, humanitarian protocols regarding the entry of aid trucks, tents, and caravans, and withholding medical and heavy equipment and fuel from entering Gaza.”
Regarding Hamas’s rejection of US envoy Steve Witkoff’s plan to extend the first phase of the ceasefire agreement for 50 days, Meshaal said Israel wanted to blackmail Hamas through this proposal by returning its prisoners, without addressing the requirements of the second phase, which are sustainable calm and the [Israeli] occupation’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”
“The [Israeli] occupation wanted to negotiate with the resistance over the future of Gaza, its administration, and its weapons, after making sure that the resistance had lost its pressure card which is the Israeli prisoners,” he said.
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