Osama Hamdan, Hamas’s representative in Lebanon (File Photo by Palestinian Information Center)
Beirut, November 5 (RHC)-- A senior Hamas official has expressed the Palestinian resistance movement's readiness to engage with proposals aimed at ensuring the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip, a real prisoner swap deal and an end of the aggression.
Osama Hamdan, Hamas’s representative in Lebanon and a member of the group’s politburo, in a news conference on Monday said that Hamas’s “positive” position towards any proposal hinges on the condition that the Israeli regime accepts their legal demands.
Hamas says any proper truce deal has to end the war, bring about complete withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and involve a genuine prisoner exchange deal.
The Israeli regime, however, says it will accept only temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas is “eradicated.”
Hamdan emphasized the importance of adhering to prior agreements made on July 2 and Security Council Resolution 3735 as essential steps toward achieving a ceasefire and ending the war.
He described the situation in northern Gaza as dire and noted that northern Gaza has endured a month of intense violence characterized by genocide and ethnic cleansing, as Israel is intensifying efforts to displace residents who remain steadfast on their land, despite the relentless bombardment and destruction of their homes and shelters.
“More than 100,000 Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip are now living with no basics of human survival. Over 1,800 people were martyred in the northern Gaza governorate, mostly women and children,” he said.
Hamdan criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and attributed the responsibility for the deaths of Israeli captives to his actions. He further called for pressure to be applied to Israel to prevent obstruction of ceasefire negotiations.
He also accused the U.S. administration and several Western countries of complicity in the Israeli massacres and genocide that are being committed against the Palestinian people, asserting that these actions occur without adequate calls for cessation of hostilities or adherence to international legal standards.
He emphasized that the ongoing atrocities in Gaza are being broadcast live for the entire world to witness, and are perpetrated in defiance of the Security Council resolution demanding an immediate halt to Israel's military actions as well as the International Court of Justice's directives aimed at preventing genocide and alleviating the dire humanitarian crisis in the region.
The senior Hamas official also expressed confidence that the Israeli regime and perpetrators of these atrocities would be held accountable and would stand trial, no matter how long it takes.
So far, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 43,374 Palestinians and wounded 102,261 since October 7, 2023.
