Israel failed to eliminate Hamas, free its captives: Haniyeh
The leader of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, says Israel has failed to achieve any of the declared goals of its war on Gaza, including eliminating the group and freeing its captives.
Israel “hasn’t eliminated Hamas and won’t eliminate it, and hasn’t retrieved its captives and won’t retrieve them except through an honorable deal,” Haniyeh told al-Mayadeen television network on Thursday.
He also noted that Israel failed to force the defiant Gazans to leave the strip.
The head of the political bureau of Hamas said the massacres and crimes committed by Israel in Gaza reflect “its strategic failure.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, Haniyeh stressed that Hamas is sticking to its conditions and will not engage in any ceasefire deal that will not be implemented.
He noted that the Israeli assassination of his sons and grandchildren won’t change Hamas’ stance on the negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Haniyeh reiterated that the Palestinian resistance wants a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the strip, and an unconditioned return of the internally displaced people to their homes there.
He noted that Hamas’ demands also include the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, the lifting of the siege imposed on the strip, and a serious prisoner exchange deal.
“The movement won’t agree to any deal that lacks these demands,” he emphasized.
Warning that Israel poses a danger to the entire “Arab and Muslim region,” Haniyeh urged the regional countries to adopt “a different stance” on Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
He noted that Israel’s “image has been shattered” after its atrocities in Gaza and has become “unprecedentedly isolated.”
“Israel, the spoiled child of the West, is no longer as it once was,” he said.
The Hamas political bureau chief says the interests of the Palestinian people are placed ahead of everything else in the ceasefire talks with Israel.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli intensified violence against Palestinians.
Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.
Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed 33,634 Palestinians and injured nearly 76,214 others.
