Hamas confirms talks with Israel in Doha, highlights focus on ceasefire and urgent humanitarian needs.
The Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas has confirmed the resumption of “indirect negotiations” with Israel in the Qatari capital on Friday and affirmed “its seriousness” in efforts to reach an agreement “at the earliest opportunity.”
“The movement confirms, as it does every time, its seriousness, positivity, and its efforts to reach an agreement at the earliest opportunity that will achieve the aspirations and goals of our steadfast and patient people, the most important of which is stopping the Israeli aggression and protecting our people in light of the genocide and ethnic cleansing practiced by the occupation,” Dr. Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas Politburo official said in a press statement.
JUST IN: Hamas has issued a press release on the “Zionist aggression, the genocidal war, and crimes against the health system in the Gaza Strip.”
They state, “For the 455th day, the Nazi Zionist occupation continues to escalate all forms of genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced… pic.twitter.com/YIYS0wAuNA
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) January 3, 2025
He said this round of talks “will focus on a complete ceasefire, the full withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip and the details of implementation, and the return of the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled in all areas of the Strip.”
Dr. Naim urged the media on “the necessity of not dealing with information and leaks from unknown sources, which are published by some parties, with the aim of confusing and increasing pressure on our people.”
Israeli media reported on Friday that an Israeli delegation had left for Doha to continue the negotiations after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “authorized a working-level delegation from the Mossad, Shin Bet and IDF.”
The Times of Israel cited the Israeli Channel 12 as reporting that an unnamed official said the decision to send the delegation came after there had been “progress in recent days.”
Attack on Hospitals
The Hamas official condemned Israel for “the destruction of hospitals and medical centers protected under international humanitarian law.”
He said Israel’s persistence in “the crimes of killing, arresting and abusing medical personnel and the ambulance system constitute a full-fledged war crime and a flagrant violation of international laws and UN Charter.”
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Dr. Naim emphasized that “These crimes would not have occurred without the international silence and inaction in putting an end to the Zionist criminality.”
More than 1,057 Palestinian health and medical professionals have been killed since October 7, 2023, and many have been arbitrarily arrested, according to UN Special Rapporteurs.
At least 22 hospitals have been destroyed, the latest being the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza at the end of last month. Israeli forces detained its director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya along with other medical staff.
Free Dr. Abu Safiya
The Hamas official called on the international community, including human rights organizations, “to expose and criminalize the occupation’s violations against hospitals, and to exert all pressure to immediately release all doctors and medical staff, and all detainees from our people who were kidnapped from hospitals.”
Dr. Abu Safiya Detained by Israel – Grave Concerns over Torture, Health
“We hold the Zionist occupation fully responsible for the safety of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya,” he said, as well as “all nurses and paramedics” who were abducted by Israeli forces, particularly “in light of reports of their exposure to abuse and ill-treatment.”
He renewed Hamas’ demand to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) “to take serious action to send international observers to all hospitals in Gaza and to impose a protection regime on hospitals and medical centers.”
Detainee Abuse and Torture
Dr. Naim also stressed “the need to pressure the occupation to allow visits to prisons and detention centers where our prisoners and detainees are subjected to the most heinous forms of torture and abuse.”
He added that “serious action” should be taken “to conduct independent investigations into all these crimes and violations. And to work to hold their perpetrators accountable in international courts.”
⚡️JUST IN: Testimonies of torture inside Israeli prisons.
Eighteen Palestinian detainees were released to Gaza through the Karam Abu Salim crossing and then taken to the European Hospital. They described mistreatment in Israeli prisons, including beatings, lack of medical care,… pic.twitter.com/IQZp3rdJf9
— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) December 8, 2024
Hamas called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Arab League, the WHO and all international humanitarian organizations “to assume their historical responsibilities and to take the initiative to send field hospitals in all specialties and force the occupation to urgently bring in medical supplies, fuel and medicines, to save hundreds of thousands of patients, wounded and displaced persons.”
US Complicity
Dr. Naim stressed that Hamas considers the US administration “a partner” in Israel’s “crimes and genocidal war against our people,” adding that it was “legally, humanely and morally responsible for its support of the occupation and providing protection to its army from accountability and trial, and granting it political, diplomatic and media cover.”
This support by the US is evident “while it (Israel) practices the most heinous crimes known in modern history against our Palestinian people, against civilian facilities protected under international law, and against patients, the wounded and the displaced.”
The movement also condemned the clampdown by Palestinian Authority’s security forces on Jenin “for its thirtieth day, in which it besieges the Jenin camp, targets our people and pursues the resistance.”
Describing the action as a “complete national crime,” Hamas said the “deliberate killing, arrest, torture and abuse” of Palestinians by the security forces “only serve the occupation and its malicious plans to end the resistance in the West Bank and complete the annexation and displacement plan.”
Ongoing Genocide
The ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023, has led to a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale. As the death toll among besieged and starved Palestinian civilians continues to rise daily, Israel is currently facing charges of genocide against Palestinians before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
AL-JAZEERA: Four Palestinians were killed and a number wounded fell in an Israeli bombardment that targeted a house in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/qCR7LKABbE
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) January 3, 2025
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least 445,581 Palestinians have been killed, and 108,438 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023. The toll is expected to rise further, with at least 11,000 people still unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes across Gaza.
The war, which Palestinians call “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” began after a military operation carried out by Hamas on Israeli territory. Israel reports that 1,200 of its soldiers and civilians were killed during the initial attack on October 7. However, Israeli media have raised concerns that a significant number of Israeli casualties were caused by ‘friendly fire’ during the assault.
Humanitarian Catastrophe
Human rights organizations, both Palestinian and international, have reported that the overwhelming majority of the casualties in Gaza are women and children. The ongoing violence has also exacerbated an acute famine, with thousands of children among the dead, highlighting the severity of the humanitarian disaster.
The war has displaced nearly two million people from their homes across Gaza, with the majority of the displaced forced into the already overcrowded southern region of the Strip. The population in Gaza remains trapped in the ongoing conflict, with little access to basic necessities such as food, water, and medical care.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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