Hamas fighter in front of a tunnel in the Gaza Strip, PHOTO: SOPA IMAGES / SIPA Press / Profimedia
The Islamist Palestinian group Hamas said on Saturday that it will not submit the weapons unless an independent Palestinian state is set up, Reuters reports, taken over by Agerpres.
Hamas said in a statement that “the armed resistance (…) can only be abandoned by the full restoration of our national rights, first of all by establishing an independent Palestinian state, fully sovereign, with Jerusalem as the capital.”
The indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel, which aimed to conclude a 60-day armistice in the Gaza war and an agreement for the issuance of hostages, ended last week, recalls Reuters.
The US withdraws from the negotiations for the armistice in Gaza. Steve Witkoff: “Hamas acted selfishly”
On Thursday, Hamas announced that it was dedicated to continuing negotiations for the conclusion of a permanent armistice and a complete withdrawal of the Israeli forces in Gaza, but said that the conditions in the enclave should “significantly” improve.
All 2.1 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are now in food insecurity, without safe access to healthy and cheap foods, the UN announced this week. According to the Ministry of Health of the Enclut, 900,000 children suffer from hunger, and 70,000 shows signs of malnutrition.
