IN A statement issued on Friday to mark International Jerusalem Day, Hamas declared that the occasion arrives this year as the Palestinian people steadfastly endure relentless Israeli aggression across Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Hamas paid tribute to the resilience of Palestinians in Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank, praising their bravery in confronting the brutal Israeli attacks, and reaffirmed its commitment to resistance and steadfastness until liberation and return are achieved.
Hamas reiterated that Jerusalem will remain central to the struggle against occupation, warning that any attempts to impose Judaization policies or divide Al-Aqsa Mosque – spatially or temporally – will be met with further resistance and defiance.
The statement emphasised that the occupation will not succeed in breaking the will of the Palestinian people, who continue to make immense sacrifices for the sake of their city and their sacred sites.
The movement also praised the broad participation in International Jerusalem Day demonstrations and the Friday of Rage for Palestine, held in Arab, Islamic, and international capitals, highlighting the growing global mobilisation in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their just cause and in condemnation of the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
Hamas called upon Arab and Islamic nations, as well as free people around the world, to ensure the coming days become a period of intensified protest and pressure aimed at ending the Israeli aggression on Gaza, lifting the unlawful siege, and preventing further massacres against innocent civilians.
Meanwhile, Bassem Naim, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, has confirmed that the movement has intensified its communications with mediators in recent days in a bid to reach a concrete proposal to end the current crisis and halt the ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip.
However, Israel’s aggressive military campaign and acts of collective punishment against the civilian population in Gaza have now continued for eleven consecutive days, following its breach of a fragile ceasefire that had lasted 57 days.
The Hamas movement has strongly condemned the Israeli military’s targeting of Palestinian Civil Defence and Red Crescent teams in Rafah, describing it as a fully-fledged war crime.
In a statement issued on Friday, Hamas said the recent discovery of the bodies of 15 first responders, found buried in sand next to their destroyed vehicles in the Tel al-Sultan and al-Baraksat areas of Rafah – days after losing contact with them – reveals the extent of the atrocity committed during the latest Israeli assault.
The movement stressed that the deliberate targeting of emergency workers while performing their humanitarian duties represents one of the most egregious violations of the laws of war, and forms part of Israel’s ongoing attacks against civilians in the Gaza Strip. ‘The Israeli war machine recognises no limits to its brutality,’ the statement read.
Hamas condemned what it described as international silence in the face of these crimes, calling such inaction unacceptable complicity. It held the international community historically accountable for failing to stop what it labelled a campaign of systematic extermination.
The movement also called on the United Nations, its specialised agencies and international humanitarian organisations, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross, to take urgent action to establish an international investigation into this atrocity.
Hamas further urged investigators to be granted immediate access to Rafah to determine the fate of thousands of civilians who remain unaccounted for and to facilitate urgent humanitarian relief to devastated areas across the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) had earlier confirmed that the fate of nine of its emergency responders remains unknown for the sixth consecutive day, after they were besieged and reportedly targeted by Israeli forces in Rafah, southern Gaza.
The statement noted that four ambulances were discovered completely destroyed and buried under sand, offering grim evidence of the intensity of the attack.
There is not a moment to lose! The trade unions in the USA, the UK and the EU must call general strike actions to bring down their imperialist governments and bring in workers governments that will come to the aid of the Palestinian people.
