Hamas has stated it won’t disarm until an unbiased 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 total restoration of our nationwide rights – in the beginning, the institution of an unbiased, 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 publish 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.”
Gaza well being officers have stated 18 individuals, together with eight who have been attempting to entry meals, have been killed by Israeli hearth on Saturday.
In response to questions on a number of eyewitness accounts of violence at one in all 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.
Based on the United Nations’ human rights workplace, a minimum of 859 individuals have been killed “in the vicinity” of GHF assist websites since late Could.
The conflict in Gaza started when Hamas-led militants killed round 1,200 individuals, largely 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 have been launched in ceasefires or different offers.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed greater than 60,000 Palestinians, in accordance with Gaza’s Hamas-run well being ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between militants and civilians in its depend.
