Hamas has stated it won’t disarm until an impartial Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.
The militant group stated it was issuing an announcement “in response to media reports quoting US envoy Steve Witkoff, claiming [Hamas] has shown willingness to disarm”.
It continued: “We reaffirm that resistance and its arms are a legitimate national and legal right as long as the occupation continues.
“This proper is recognised by worldwide legal guidelines and norms, and it can’t be relinquished besides by way of the complete restoration of our nationwide rights – in the beginning, the institution of an impartial, totally sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Hamas also condemned Mr Witkoff’s visit to an aid distribution centre in Gaza on Friday as “nothing greater than a premeditated staged present”.
Donald Trump’s Center East envoy Mr Witkoff and Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, visited a centre run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Basis (GHF).
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Trump envoy Witkoff visits Gaza
Hamas stated the journey was “designed to mislead public opinion, polish the image of the occupation, and provide it with political cover for its starvation campaign and continued systematic killing of defenceless children and civilians in the Gaza Strip”.
Mr Witkoff stated he spent “over five hours in Gaza”. In a submit on X on Friday, he stated: “The purpose of the visit was to give [President Trump] a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza.”
“I think the visit to the GHF site was just a controlled visit dictated by the Israeli military,” she stated. “If they really wanted people to see what is happening here, they would allow international journalists from around the world to enter.
“They might enable the leaders of the world to come back right here and see.”
Hamas releases hostage video
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Video launched of Israeli hostage
It comes as Hamas launched a video exhibiting Israeli man, Evyatar David, being held hostage in what seems to be a tunnel.
Mr David was taken from the Nova Music Pageant on 7 October 2023.
His household have given permission for media retailers to point out the video.
Greater than a dozen killed by Israeli fireplace
Gaza well being officers have stated 18 folks, together with eight who had been making an attempt to entry meals, had been killed by Israeli fireplace on Saturday.
In response to questions on a number of eyewitness accounts of violence at one among its amenities, GHF stated “nothing [happened] at or near our sites”.
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The US and Israel-backed GHF has been marred by controversy and deadly shootings ever because it was arrange earlier this 12 months.
In response to the United Nations’ human rights workplace, no less than 859 folks have been killed “in the vicinity” of GHF help websites since late Might.
Dr Tom Adamkiewicz, who’s working at a hospital in Gaza, has stated Palestinian kids, ladies and men are “being shot at, basically like rabbits”.
The Israel Defence Forces has repeatedly stated it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians” and has blamed Hamas.
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Gaza deaths enhance when help websites open
The warfare in Gaza started when Hamas-led militants killed round 1,200 folks, principally civilians, in an assault on Israel on 7 October 2023 and kidnapped 251 others. Of these, they nonetheless maintain round 50, with 20 believed to be alive, after a lot of the others had been launched in ceasefires or different offers.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed greater than 60,000 Palestinians, in keeping with Gaza’s Hamas-run well being ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between militants and civilians in its depend.
