Haniyeh: What was not lost in the battle will not be lost at the table

Hamas’s Deputy Chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Tuesday that what the Palestinians did not lose in the battlefield would not be lost at the negotiation table, Arabs 48 news website reported.

Haniyeh issued a statement titled: “The military victory of resistance and legendary patience of the people will definitely lead to lifting the siege of Gaza,” in which he said that the negotiating team in Cairo is sticking to the Palestinian demands and would not bargain away any of them.

Haniyeh said: “The champion fighters defeated the occupier, obliging it to retreat and opening the door for our people to achieve their hopes of freedom, return and independence.” He stressed that Gaza and other places in Palestine are all following the talks in Cairo.

“We deal with the political movements with high responsibility,” said Haniyeh, adding that, “we have been in touch with Qatar and Turkey, and now with Egypt, in order to stop the aggression and lift the oppressive siege.”

He affirmed that the Palestinians are “united” behind the negotiators in Cairo. “We support our united negotiation team in Cairo in order to achieve the best conclusion that matches the massive sacrifices of our people and our resistance,” he said.

The Hamas leader, who conceded his position as a prime minister for a reconciliation government just one month before the war, said that Hamas’s delegation, which is part of the negotiation team in Cairo, is reconciliatory and eager to get a united Palestinian resolution on the whole situation.

But he insisted that the blood spilt in the Israeli massacres in Shujayia, Khusa’a, Rafah and Beit Hanoun, as well as the blood of all the families that were executed, is still a behest that is calling upon us “to keep our promises (to achieve the Palestinian demands).”

Concluding his statement, Haniyeh said: “After the truce came into place, the scenes of havoc and destruction [in Gaza] became clear to the whole world. They show how large are the Israeli crimes, as well as how big the Israeli failure.”

He added: “This puts a heavy burden on the Palestinian government to reconstruct the Strip, but I say: We will keep our promise about helping those who were harmed during this war.”