Hamas official says Netanyahu speech shows he doesn't want ceasefire deal

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said on Wednesday that Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the US Congress shows that he does not want to conclude a ceasefire deal, Reuters has reported.

The Israeli prime minister addressed Congress in a record fourth speech by a foreign leader to a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives. He talked about the necessity of forging a security alliance in the Middle East to counter Iran.

“Netanyahu’s speech was full of lies and it will not succeed in covering up for the failure and defeat in the face of the resistance to cover up for the crimes of the war and genocide that his army is committing against the people of Gaza,” said Abu Zuhri. He added that any alliance with Israel from any party would be “treason to the blood of the martyrs.”

The leader of the occupation state also claimed that his country does not seek to resettle Gaza, and that after the war the enclave should be led by Palestinians who do not seek to destroy Israel.

“The Palestinian people… are the only ones who decide who rule them,” responded Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority president. “Our permanent stance is that the only solution to achieve security and stability is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Hamas-led fighters carried out a cross-border incursion on 7 October during which 1,200 people were killed, many of them by the Israel Defence Forces. The resistance groups took 250 Israelis back to Gaza as hostages, of whom around 120 are still in captivity. Israel believes that a third of the hostages are dead.

Ever since the Hamas-led incursion, Israel has been waging a devastating war against the Palestinians in Gaza. The Israeli offensive has killed 40,000 Palestinians, mainly children and women, and wounded more than 90,000 others. An estimated 10,000 Palestinians are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by Israel. At least 90 per cent of the population in Gaza has been displaced, the UN has confirmed.

Israel faces the charge of genocide brought by South Africa in a submission to the International Court of Justice. The apartheid state denies the charge.

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