In his latest press conference from Beirut on Tuesday, top Hamas official Osama Hamdan praised the people in the Gaza Strip and their Resistance, saying that Israel will not obtain at a political level what it has failed to achieve on the ground.
Hamdan also provided the latest update regarding the negotiations for a possible ceasefire in Gaza, renewing the conditions of the Resistance and reiterating that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “continues to evade his responsibilities before his public”.
Ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, Hamdan also called on Arab and Muslim countries, as well as the international community, to “seriously work and press by all means to establish land, sea, and air bridges, and introduce relief aid and field hospitals to all areas of the Gaza Strip”.
Below is the full text of Hamdan’s press conference, as translated and conveyed through the Resistance News Network Telegram channel.
‘Legendary Epic of Patience and Sacrifice’
“We are at the doors of the blessed month of Ramadan, and with this Nazi aggression against our people continuing for the 151st day, despite the scale of killing, massacres, and genocide, and the pain of displacement, hunger, and thirst, this Nazi enemy has not achieved any of its aggressive goals.
“The image of the erosion of the defeated entity and its war pillars internally is increasingly deteriorating and growing, while the image of our people’s steadfastness, patience, strength, and the bravery of our resistance is firm, rooted, and determined to be victorious.
“We send our greetings, pride, and honor to our people in the Gaza Strip, who continue their legendary epic of patience and sacrifice. We also send peace and greetings to the victorious Al-Qassam Brigades, the fighting Saraya Al-Quds, and the men of the Palestinian resistance on the land of Gaza of glory, who continue with all strength, capability, will, and determination to forge a legacy of glory for our people and our nation.”
‘Evading Responsibilities’
“The movement has worked seriously and persistently to reach an agreement to stop the aggression, intensify the entry of aid and relief, and return our people to the areas they were displaced from, especially in the north, and for the complete withdrawal of the occupation from the Gaza Strip.
“Over the past two days, the movement’s vision and stance on the proposal presented to us by our Egyptian and Qatari mediator brothers at the end of last week have been submitted. We affirmed our conditions for a ceasefire, complete withdrawal from the Strip, return of the displaced to their areas, especially to the north, and provision of adequate aid, relief, and reconstruction.
“We dealt with the proposals of our brothers in Egypt and Qatar with a high spirit of positivity and flexibility at all stages of the negotiations. However, Netanyahu continues to evade and shirk his responsibilities before his public, for personal political calculations, revealing his fear and terror of his political future and the post-war stage.
“We reaffirm that we will not allow the negotiation process to be open-ended with the continuation of the aggression and the war of starvation against our people, nor to serve as a cover for the continuation of more crimes against unarmed civilians, or to buy time to proceed with the genocide against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
“Any prisoner exchange will not take place before securing all the conditions of the resistance, and negotiations will not continue without a prospect.
“Any flexibility shown by the movement in the negotiation process to stop the Zionist aggression, out of concern for our people’s blood and their great sacrifices, is matched by a readiness and determination to continue all forms of struggle and resistance, in defense of our people, our land, our constants, and our sanctities, at the heart of which are Al-Quds and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“On the 151st day, the Zionist war machine, supported by the US administration, has not stopped committing genocide, ethnic cleansing, displacement, starvation, dehydration, and horrific massacres against unarmed civilians and innocents in the Gaza Strip.
“All the slogans of humanity, freedom, and justice, which the US administration, who is a partner with this occupation in its crimes and aggression against our people, sings about, have fallen. It has exposed all the hesitant and negligent positions on breaking the unjust siege on the Gaza Strip, relieving its people, healing their wounds, supporting their steadfastness, and putting an end to this continuous Zionist crime and aggression.
“The tragic situation experienced by the citizens and displaced people in all governorates of the Gaza Strip remains catastrophic and cannot be described or summarized in words.
“Disease, hunger, and thirst are now claiming the lives of thousands of our people in the Gaza Strip daily, especially among children , women, and the elderly, as all hospitals are out of service, and sufficient relief and medical supplies fail to reach them.
“We confirm to the Zionists and the United States that what they failed to impose on the battlefield will not be taken through political machinations, no matter the forms of trickery and pressure they employ. This resistance will remain faithful to the sacrifices, keen on accumulating its outcomes and building upon them until the occupation is defeated.”
War of Starvation
“The war of starvation waged by the occupation for more than five months, especially against civilians in the Gaza and Northern governorates, has forced citizens seeking sustenance for their children to risk their lives and fall into the killing traps set by the fascist occupation.
“The complete cutoff of water in the Gaza and Northern governorates increases the suffering of citizens from thirst, due to the unavailability of drinking water and the lack of even non-potable water, due to the occupation’s continuous bombing of wells and water stations, and the absence of fuel needed for water extraction.
“The continuation of the occupation’s war of starvation against our people, targeting aid convoys, and committing massacres against the citizens gathered around them, is a clear insistence by this criminal entity to proceed with the war of genocide and ethnic cleansing, a blatant challenge and disregard for all international laws and humanitarian norms, and for the resolutions of the International Court of Justice.
“The occupation at the Al-Nabulsi roundabout, which claimed 118 martyrs and hundreds of wounded, who gathered at dawn in anticipation of securing sustenance for hungry children, only to be shot down by the bullets and shells of the Nazi occupation army’s vehicles, in a savage crime that is shamefully horrific, followed by a brazen Zionist narrative of what happened, disclaiming the crime with utmost arrogance and disdain.
“The statement issued by the United Nations Security Council, which was subjected to American pressures and amendments, to finally express “concern” about Al-Nablusi massacre, does not rise up to the level of the crime, and proves once again the impotence that has struck the most important tool of international security in the face of the genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip.
“The aid that has been airdropped from several countries is appreciated, but it only meets a tiny fraction of the needs of the people amid the catastrophe in Gaza.
“We call on all countries and governments that support the rights of our people and their just cause to find more effective ways to deliver aid, emphasizing the need to open the crossings for its entry by land, to ensure its safe and orderly arrival to its beneficiaries, and to maintain the dignity of Palestinian citizens, with a focus on delivering it to the north where famine is worsening.
“The US administration and President Biden personally remain a full partner with the Zionist occupation in the genocide our people in the Gaza Strip are subjected to, bearing political, legal, moral, and humanitarian responsibility for the outcomes and repercussions of this aggression. Dropping some relief aid will not cleanse their image stained with the blood of our people.”
US is Partner in Genocide
“We say to Biden and the US administration: The most important thing is to stop supplying the Nazi Zionist army with weapons, shells, and missiles that rain down on our unarmed people..and that you stop raising your hands to use your veto in the face of the entire world…to give the occupation cover to continue the genocidal crimes against our people.
“We call on our Arab and Islamic countries to take practical and serious action to stop the genocide our people are subjected to, and to work seriously on the immediate implementation of the decision of the Arab Islamic summit on November 11 of last year, which emphasized breaking the Zionist siege.
“We call on the peoples of our Arab and Islamic nation to continue all forms of solidarity, support, and backing for the Palestinian people and our people in the Gaza Strip, and to continue to go out in wide public activities and demonstrations condemning the crimes of the occupation and its aggression, and pressuring governments to take effective and strong positions against the entity.
“We renew the call to the peoples of our nation through which the food convoys to the Zionist entity pass, to immediately act to prevent their passage, as the minimal form of solidarity with Gaza is to make the criminal realize the dire consequences of his siege on our people.
“We call on the international community to effectively press for the full opening of the crossings, end the siege, and allow the entry of aid convoys in sufficient quantities to all areas of the Gaza Strip, especially to Gaza and North Gaza governorates, ensuring these aids reach our besieged people and end their humanitarian suffering.
“We demand the activation of the role of international relief institutions, especially UNRWA, to facilitate and organize the entry and distribution of aid, in a way that preserves the dignity of our people.
“We call on all governments and institutions in our Arab Islamic nation to use the blessed month of Ramadan as an opportunity to seriously work and press by all means to establish land, sea, and air bridges, and introduce relief aid and field hospitals to all areas of the Gaza Strip, to prevent the continuation of the war of starvation and genocide against more than two million Palestinians.
“During the month of Ramadan, we call for intensifying all forms of financial, moral, humanitarian, and charitable support to heal the wounds of our people in the Gaza Strip, support families, the sick, and the wounded, and adopt charitable projects that support their steadfastness in the face of Zionist aggression.
“We call on all Arab Islamic governments and institutions during the month of Ramadan to work towards partnering in supporting the resistance in Gaza, just as the resistance and fighters in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq are doing.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)