Meshaal blames Netanyahu for current escalation

The Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, Khaled Meshaal, said on Wednesday that international efforts are being made to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In a televised speech from the Qatari capital Doha, Meshaal said that his movement has been receiving calls from all over the world to halt Hamas’s response to the Israeli offensive. They are asking for a ceasefire, he said, “as if the problem started from Gaza.”

At least 76 Palestinians have been killed, 22 of them children, and hundreds of others have been wounded as a result of Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip which started at dawn on Tuesday. Most of the wounded are women and children.

“If the world wants to stop bloodshed, it should take two steps,” said Meshaal. “First, put pressure on Netanyahu and his criminal gang to stop the aggression on Gaza, the West Bank, Palestinians within the 1948 land [Israel], and all our lands; and second, to pressure him to change his policies towards our people.”

He added that the Palestinian people can “no longer afford” to live under occupation, and do not accept the siege on Gaza and the starvation of its people. “It’s high time for the Israeli occupation to end,” he insisted.

Holding Netanyahu and the Israelis responsible for the latest escalation, the Hamas chief accused them of closing all doors: “So don’t blame anyone except yourselves.” He said that the Israeli prime minister has “turned his back to the world” and blamed him for the failure of negotiations.

Meshaal pointed out that Hamas maintained the truce until Israel targeted civilian homes in which women, children and elderly people are living. “Today, as we have been the victims of an attack, no one should blame us for what is happening,” he said.