At least 21 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed its war on Gaza. The terrorist occupier resumed airstrikes as a temporary truce expired on Friday morning. Resistance movement Hamas, meanwhile, accuses PM Benjamin Netanyahu of disrespecting agreements and has vowed to continue resisting occupation.
Speaking in an interview on Salaamedia, a Hamas senior representative said Netanyahu was never interested in securing the release of hostages captured during Operation Al Aqsa Flood.
“Netanyahu is not even interested in the interests of his own society. He is a corrupt leader, he is a war criminal and he has started this thing again to save himself,” said Dr Khaled Qaddoumi, member of a Hamas delegation in South Africa.
“During the humanitarian pause there was agitation [and] rallies inside Israel against him to return the prisoners and hostages who had been held by the resistance movement in Gaza, but he doesn’t listen. He has delayed the swap of prisoners from the beginning.”
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Hamas vows to continue resistance
Qaddoumi said the international community ought to carry the responsibility to pressure apartheid Israel to stop the genocide in Gaza. “They should not leave such a criminal to continue to pursue his own whims and evil intentions to continue this war,” he said.
He also said Israel had failed to respect any agreement between the two parties during the seven-day temporary truce. The pause saw the release of 110 hostages held by Hamas and 240 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.
“These drones have never stopped hovering, even during the humanitarian pause. Israelis have never been respecting any commitments or any agreement. Unfortunately, again they are attacking residential areas [and] they are attacking hospitals,” he continued.
The representative said Israel had the option to “understand the language of the negotiation”, failing which “we are in the field”.
“They will suffer a lot because our fighters are noble and they will be adamant to stop these atrocities and aggressions,” he added.
Qaddoumi is part of a senior Hamas delegation that arrived in South Africa this week. They will attend the Fifth Global Convention of Solidarity with Palestine and meet representatives of political parties, civil society groups and the broader solidarity movement.
