Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Ismail Haniya, Hamass leader in the Gaza Strip, said Gaza will not falter when he appeared on television -- from a hiding place because Israeli war planes had bombed his office.
His determination, even as he left open the door for a negotiated end to the fighting, at a time when almost 1,000 Palestinians have died under Israeli attack is part and parcel of Hamass self-declared reason for being: maintaining an armed struggle against a country whose existence it refuses to accept.
Without resistance, Hamas would have no identity, said Khalid Amayreh, a political commentator and analyst in the West Bank city of Hebron. It must maintain its principles of fighting Israel at all costs.
Haniyas call on Jan. 12 for an immediate cease-fire, unconditional Israeli military withdrawal and the unfettered opening of Gazas borders fell short of Egyptian-government mediators proposals that Hamas stop firing rockets into Israel and permit international monitoring of Gazas border with Egypt to end arms smuggling.
Still, there was a change in tone. In addition to the track of resistance, Haniya said Hamas was also working on the political track.
And the No. 2 Hamas figure in Damascus, Mussa Abu Marzuk, earlier this week sounded more open to the Egyptian cease-fire plan, telling Al-Jazeera television that there was still a chance his group would accept it. Hamas negotiators spent yesterday in talks in Cairo, after a day of consultation in Damascus.
Medical personnel in Gaza put the Palestinian death toll at 919, while 13 Israelis have died since fighting began Dec. 27.
Suicide Bombings
Hamas, branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union, was attacking Israel long before this war. In the mid-1990s, it spearheaded suicide bombings inside Israel. It was a period when that country was ceding control of the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Qalqilya, Jenin, Tulkarm, Bethlehem and Hebron to the Palestinian National Authority, then led by Yasser Arafat.
These concessions did nothing to alter Hamass anti-Israeli stand. In its view, the Palestinian territory that Israel illegally occupies includes not only the West Bank and Gaza, conquered by Israel in 1967, but also Israel itself.
The Islamic party posits use of force as an alternative to peace talks promoted by Arafats successor, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, to create a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Israel is simply an illegal state, said Nizar Ramadan, a Hamas member of the Palestine Legislative Council, or parliament, from the West Bank city of Hebron. It is not a moral entity we can accept.
Hamas and Fatah The UN general assembly, which is meeting this week to discuss the issue, will consider requesting an advisory opinion from the international court of justice, the Guardian has learned.
"There is a well-grounded view that both the initial attacks on Gaza and the tactics being used by Israel are serious violations of the UN charter, the Geneva conventions, international law and international humanitarian law," said Richard Falk, the UN's special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories and professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University.
"There is a consensus among independent legal experts that Israel is an occupying power and is therefore bound by the duties set out in the fourth Geneva convention," Falk added. "The arguments that Israel's blockade is a form of prohibited collective punishment, and that it is in breach of its duty to ensure the population has sufficient food and healthcare as the occupying power, are very strong
Loading...
fuck israel ... fuck you hasbata officiers ... why don't you find a real work.
elbombardi 3 weeks ago
Palestine is an artificial country occupied by the arabs in the late 19th century. We took these territories(West Bank and Gaza)in 1967, until then they had been under Jordan's/Egypt's contriol. I wonder why these two arab countries failed to establish a "Palestinian state" in the 19 years between 1948 and 1967?? The answer is: as there is no such thing as a "Pslestinian people". They are Egyptians. So they can go there.
TheIsraeligeneral666 2 months ago
כאשר הפלסטינים להפסיק לתקוף את ישראל ולנסות דברים שאין להם זכות לדרוש הפסקת ישראל כדי לשמור על מיקום הגנתי, כי היא, מדינת ישראל נלחמת על קיומה, את הפלסטינים ואת המאבק אחרים כדי להשמיד את ישראל
Manuchoman 1 year ago
cuando los palestinos dejen de atacar israel y pretender cosas que no tienen derecho alguno a reclamar israel dejara de mantener la posicion defensiva que tiene, israel lucha por su supervivencia, los palestinos y demas luchan por destruir a israel
Manuchoman 1 year ago
whatreallyhappened*com/IMAGES/GazaHolo/index*html
croakingembryo 3 years ago
Forgive this girl if one day she blows up herself killing Israeli civilians because her innocet father was killed infront of her eyes.
brotherhary 3 years ago
lmao funny but at the same time bit snidy
doneyourmum 3 years ago
this is shit.. this doesn't has any idea of what war is
kilougi 3 years ago
Collective punishment is a war crime. Fourth Geneva conventions section 3. It also lays out the rules on bombing hospitals, schools, and UN facilities.
PASMdude 3 years ago