Hamas decides to review its negotiation strategy with the occupation

The Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” announced on Friday, May 10th, 2024, that it has decided to hold consultations with the leadership of Palestinian resistance factions to reconsider its negotiation strategy, following the occupation’s rejection of the mediators’ proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In a statement, the movement considered that “Israel’s rejection of the mediators’ proposal, through the modifications it introduced, has brought things back to square one.”

It emphasized that “the enemy’s attack on Rafah and the occupation of the crossing immediately after Hamas announced its acceptance of the mediators’ proposal confirms that the occupation is evading reaching an agreement.”

The statement further stated that “in fulfillment of our great people’s wishes, Hamas dealt responsibly and positively with the mediators’ efforts, and showed the necessary flexibility to facilitate reaching an agreement that achieves a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of enemy forces from the entire Gaza Strip, the return of refugees freely, and reaching a prisoner exchange through a serious and genuine deal that ends the suffering of all our brave prisoners in the occupation’s prisons in exchange for the release of Israeli prisoners. For this reason, the movement agreed to the latest proposal of the mediators.”

The movement added that “Netanyahu and his extremist government use negotiations as a cover for attacking Rafah and occupying the crossing, and continuing the war of extermination against our people, and bear full responsibility for obstructing reaching an agreement.”

The statement concluded by extending greetings to “the heroes of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the Al-Quds Brigades, and all Palestinian resistance factions who have recorded the finest acts of heroism in confronting the enemy army and its incursions in all fronts of our steadfast sector, and their heroic operations that resulted in a number of enemy soldiers being killed or wounded in Rafah today. We affirm that the attack on Rafah will not be a picnic, and that Gaza will always be a cemetery for the invading aggressors.”

On Thursday, May 9th, 2024, the private “Cairo News” channel quoted a high-level Egyptian source as saying that the delegations of Hamas and Israel participating in indirect negotiations to establish a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip left Cairo “for consultations” after a two-day round of negotiations, indicating that the mediators’ efforts to reconcile the viewpoints of the two parties continue, without mentioning a new date.

On Tuesday, May 6th, 2024, the current round of negotiations began concurrently with the announcement by the Israeli army of “operational control” over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, a day after it began a military operation in Rafah and directed warnings to 100,000 Palestinians to “evacuate” the eastern part of the city forcibly.

Since October 7th, 2024, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza that has left more than 113,000 dead and injured, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amidst massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.

Israel continues its war despite a decision by the UN Security Council to stop the fighting “immediately,” and despite the International Court of Justice calling for immediate measures to prevent “genocide” and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.