Hams says he can continue to wage war against Israel in Gaza. A senior official of the Palestinian Islamist group, Osama Hamdansaid Sunday that the resistance has a strong capacity to continue the conflict in the Strip more than eleven months after the start of the fighting following the attack on October 7. Hamas militants kidnapped 251 people that day, of whom 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 who, according to the Israeli Defense Forces, are dead. The military campaign in the Palestinian enclave has so far left 41,206 dead, according to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health.
There were martyrs and there were sacrifices, Hamdan told Agence France-Presse from Istanbul. But in exchange there was an accumulation of experience and the recruitment of new generations into the resistance. The words of the Hamas leader come a week after the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallantwould publicly announce that Hamas no longer exists as a military formation in Gaza.
Hamdan also spoke out as truce talks remain deadlocked. Mediating countries the United States, Qatar and Egypt have been trying for months to broker a ceasefire and a deal to exchange hostages and prisoners between Israel and Hamas, but the talks have stalled. Both sides accuse each other of blocking negotiations.
Hamdan accused the United States in the interview with AFP of not putting enough pressure on Israel. Instead, it is trying to justify the Israeli side’s avoidance of any commitment, he stressed. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Hamdan, Benjamin Netanyahufaces intense pressure within his country to secure the release of the hostages who remain abducted.
Netanyahu accused Hamas of refusing any compromise and said he would not give in to pressure on the issues blocking the negotiations. Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, including from the Philadelphia corridor, a narrow strip of land along the border with Egypt that has become a major stumbling block in the talks. Netanyahu also said at least 17,000 Hamas fighters have been killed since the start of the Gaza war.
Message for the region
The war between Israel and Hamas has mobilised other movements in the region in solidarity with the Palestinians, in particular the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The latter fired a missile that landed on Sunday in central Israel, causing no casualties but forcing many Israelis to flee to shelters in the Tel Aviv region. For Hamdan, this is a message to the entire region, showing that Israel is not an immune entity and that its capabilities have limits.
Hamdan also wanted to send a message to Arab leaders who have normalized diplomatic relations with Israel, or are planning to do so, asking them how they would feel if their countries were occupied and the rest of the world remained indifferent. “If you consider Israel a blessing (…), you should give it a part of your countries,” he said ironically.
The head of the Palestinian Islamist group also mentioned possible scenarios for the day after the war, assuring that the head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwarwill never abandon the besieged territory. The next government in Gaza must be a common Palestinian government, said Osama Hamdan, adding that representatives of the different Palestinian factions would meet soon in Cairo to develop a joint vision for the post-war period.
