SENIOR Hamas official Osama Hamdan said in a televised statement yesterday that Israel has violated several provisions of the first stage of the ceasefire agreement including:
- Israeli forces violated the the ceasefire 962 times, killing 116 Palestinians during the truce;
- Israel allowed an average of 23 fuel trucks into Gaza daily instead of 50;
- Israel did not allow commercial imports of fuel;
- Israel only allowed 15 mobile homes into Gaza, instead of 60,000 as stipulated by the deal;
- Nine heavy equipment machines to remove the rubble were let into Gaza, while at least 500 were needed;
- Reconstruction material and medical equipment were restricted;
- Israel did not allow the restarting of the power station.
The senior Hamas official said the Palestinian group had honoured its commitments to the agreement in a ‘precise and timely’ manner despite Israeli violations.
He added Hamas is ‘committed to the agreement’ and wants to see the deal proceed to its second stage.
Hamdan also said that Israel is pushing to ‘bring back the situation to square one’ with alternative proposals like extending the first stage, which does not adhere to what has been agreed upon.
He added that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu is ‘fully responsible’ for the repercussions of the collapse of the agreement, including its effects on Israeli captives in Gaza.
‘We condemn the cheap blackmail that Netanyahu and his extremist government are committing against our people by using humanitarian aid as a pressure card in the negotiations,’ Hamdan said.
‘We call on the international community to pressure Israel to open the crossings and allow the life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza.
‘Global security and stability are threatened amid the absolute United States support for the Zionist entity and the international silence towards Israel’s abuses.’
He added that Israel is threatening to renew the ‘war of extermination’ in Gaza while escalating its ‘aggression’ in the occupied West Bank, continuing its attacks in Lebanon and carrying out a ‘tyrannical’ offensive in Syria.
‘The repercussions of all of this will not be limited to our people,’ Hamdan warned.
