THE Hamas Movement yesterday accused the Israeli occupation government of disregarding the ceasefire agreement and ignoring diplomatic efforts aimed at maintaining calm, warning that Israel would bear responsibility for any renewed escalation.
The remarks came after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reiterated that the government’s objective remains the ‘destruction of Hamas,’ while suggesting that US president Donald Trump be allowed to intervene in his own way.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said Smotrich’s statements demonstrate that the Israeli government ‘places no weight on any political process or international meetings’ that seek to consolidate the truce.
He called talk of a return to war as psychological warfare following two years of genocide in Gaza, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and widespread destruction without achieving the stated goal of breaking Palestinian resistance.
Qassem called for sanctions against Israel and welcomed a joint condemnation by 20 countries of recent Israeli measures aimed at tightening control over the occupied West Bank.
Regarding governance in Gaza, Qassem said Hamas had agreed from the outset to the formation of a Gaza administrative committee and expressed readiness to transfer governing responsibilities to it in coordination with Palestinian factions and under oversight by civil society figures and international parties.
He blamed delays on what he described as Israeli obstruction and a lack of political and financial support from guarantor states.
Responding to statements by the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister about readiness to assume control of Gaza, Qassem accused the Authority of limiting itself to media statements without practical steps, and missing opportunities to form a unity government or joint transitional mechanisms.
He said the ultimate goal should be a unified Palestinian political system based on democratic foundations.