The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas reiterates that the Israeli regime has failed to achieve the objectives it had sought to realize through its two-year-plus war of genocide on the Gaza Strip.
“The occupation failed to achieve its goals over two years of war,” senior Hamas’ leader and chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya told Qatar’s Al Jazeera television network on Saturday.
The official was referring to the regime’s goals of seeking to occupy the coastal sliver and expel its two-million-plus population as a result of the genocide that it had begun in October 2023.
Tel Aviv launched the war in response to a historic resistance operation that had led to ensnarement of hundreds of Zionists.
The regime would, meanwhile, allege that the genocide also sought to enable the return of the captives – another objective that it similarly stopped short of realizing.
Hamas and the regime reached a deal earlier this month during indirect talks in Egypt.
The agreement has envisioned implementation of a first phase of a ceasefire based on a 20-point plan put forward by Donald Trump that the US president says is aimed at ending the genocide.
‘Trump says ‘war is over,’ but Israeli obstructions continue’
Hayya cited Trump as saying that “the war is over,” adding that American officials keep coming up with similar statements every day.
At the same time, however, he pointed to the regime’s violations of the deal, including its prevention of entry of some materials into Gaza “as if we were still in the middle of the war.”
“The humanitarian situation worries us, and the occupation continues to obstruct the entry of aid into Gaza,” he added.
The resistance official said the US president was capable of restraining the regime.
‘Hamas won’t give Israel excuse for aggression’
He also said the movement had informed Washington that it advocated stability, adding that it would refuse to provide the regime with an excuse to “resume the war.”
Hayya said Hamas would continue to hold its side of the bargain by returning the bodies of the remaining dead captives, despite the difficulties surrounding retrieval of the corpses due to the extensive destruction that has been brought about by the war.
“We handed over 20 Israeli captives 72 hours after the ceasefire,” he said, adding, “We handed over 17 out of 28 bodies of the occupation’s captives.”
“New areas will be entered on Sunday to search for some of the bodies of the occupation’s captives.”
‘Hamas committed to national unity’
Hamas, the official continued, would also remain committed to its promise of handing over Gaza’s administration to a Palestinian body.
“We have no reservations about any national figure residing in Gaza managing the Strip. We want to go to elections as a prelude to reunifying the national ranks,” he said.
“We are one people, and we want one authority and one government.”
He said the group had agreed with the Fatah movement, which is based in the occupied West Bank, that a United Nations taskforce would “monitor borders and the ceasefire in Gaza” as well as engaging in reconstruction.
On resistance’s arms
Addressing the issue of the resistance’s arms, Hayya asserted that the weapons “are linked to the existence of the occupation and aggression, and if the occupation ends, this weapon will devolve to the state.”
“The issue of weapons is still under discussion with the factions and mediators, and the agreement is still in its early stages.”
Source: Press TV
