Latest news with #AlQassam
Egypt Today
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Today
Hamas: Netanyahu's ‘endless' war in Gaza seeks to ‘buy more time'
Israeli captive Omer Shem Tov kisses the head of a fighter from Al Qassam as he was released in a prisoner-captive swap under the Gaza ceasefire deal, Feb. 22, 2025 - Hamas CAIRO – 15 May 2025: Hamas condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for leading 'an endless war' in Gaza, accusing him of seeking to 'buy more time' while showing indifference to the fate of the captives. In a statement reported by Al Qahera News, Hamas described Netanyahu as 'posing a danger to the region and the world,' calling for an international response amid the ongoing hostilities. Hamas criticized Netanyahu's insistence on continuing the war despite ongoing negotiations, emphasizing the movement's objectives to halt Israeli aggression, ensure the withdrawal of troops from Gaza, and facilitate the release of captives. Israel has intensified its attacks across Gaza, even though ceasefire negotiations began in Doha on Wednesday, complicating efforts to secure a prisoner exchange deal. Hamas currently holds 58 captives, with 21 presumed alive, and has expressed its readiness to release all remaining captives in exchange for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops. However, Israel has stressed rejection to ending the war. Tel Aviv has announced plans to expand its operations in Gaza and reoccupy the entire enclave indefinitely if Hamas fails to agree to the so-called 'Witkoff proposal' by the end of US President Donald Trump's current trip to the Gulf. This proposal includes a ceasefire lasting only a few weeks in exchange for the release of half of the living hostages still held in Gaza. During this period, Israel is set to negotiate an end to the war without committing to a final resolution. Monday was significant for Israel and the US, as Israeli-US soldier Edan Alexander was released by Hamas after spending 583 days in captivity since October 7, 2023, and was reunited with his family under a Hamas-US agreement. Hamas has rejected the idea of a brief ceasefire and has repeatedly asserted that captives can only be released through negotiations. The movement warned that renewed Israeli strikes on Gaza represent 'a death sentence' for the captives. The Israeli war in Gaza has claimed the lives of more than 52,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, many of them women and children.
Egypt Today
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Egypt Today
Netanyahu's wife says ‘fewer' than 24 captives still alive in Gaza
Israeli captive Omer Shem Tov kisses the head of a fighter from Al Qassam as he was released in a prisoner-captive swap under the Gaza ceasefire deal, Feb. 22, 2025 - Hamas CAIRO – 30 April 2025: Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said fewer than 24 captives are still alive in Gaza, interrupting him while mentioning pertinent figures amid the ongoing war. This revelation has sparked outrage among families of the captives, who are seeking clarity on the status of their relatives still being held in Gaza since October 7, 2023. In remarks this week, Netanyahu claimed that Israel's 'important task' is to emerge victorious during the Gaza war as well as to bring home the captives. He noted that Israel has received 196 captives held by Hamas in Gaza until now, including 147 living ones. 'There are … up to 24 living,' Netanyahu said, before his wife was overheard on mic saying 'fewer.' Netanyahu responded back: 'I say up to … And the rest are, I'm sorry to say, not alive. And we will return them.' Head of Egyptian Intelligence Services Hassan Mahmoud Rashad met today with the Israeli negotiating team, headed by the Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, in Cairo to discuss proposals for reaching a ceasefire in Gaza Strip and a prisoner swap… — Egypt Today Magazine (@EgyptTodayMag) April 29, 2025 Hamas continues to hold 59 captives, with at least 22 believed to be alive, and has expressed readiness to release all remaining captives in exchange for an end to the Israeli war. However, Israeli forces resumed bombardment on Gaza on March 18, shattering a two-month ceasefire that had resulted in the release of 38 captives from Gaza, 30 of whom were alive. Israel has rejected Hamas's offers for a captive deal that would involve the release of all captives in exchange for a permanent ceasefire. Instead, Tel Aviv has proposed only a temporary truce, stating that Hamas must disarm for a permanent ceasefire to be established—a condition that Hamas has described as "impossible" and a "red line." Hamas has warned that the renewed Israeli aggression represents "a death sentence" for the remaining captives. The war in Gaza has so far killed over 52,300 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children, including more than 2,270 fatalities since the resumption of bombardment, according to the health ministry in the enclave.
The National
08-04-2025
- Politics
- The National
Starved and under attack, Gaza's civilians are caught between Israel and Hamas
Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza Eighteen months into the war in Gaza, with the death toll from Israeli attacks mounting steadily, food, medicines and other essentials running low, and expanded ground operations forcing the population out of ever-larger areas, signs are emerging that society is near breaking point. Any hope of relief rests on Israel and the militant group Hamas agreeing to terms for another ceasefire, but neither side appears willing to give ground on their demands. More than 1,390 people have been killed since Israel ended two months of ceasefire with intense bombardment on March 18. More than three times that number have also been injured, Gaza health authorities said on Monday, raising the Palestinian death toll from the war to more than 50,750, with more than 115,450 injured. Nine out of 10 Gazans are displaced and effectively homeless, and no aid has entered the territory since Israel imposed a blockade on March 2. Desperation has reached new heights. In the past two weeks there have been rare protests against Hamas, despite the group being known to crack down harshly on any signs of opposition since it gained control of the enclave in 2007. The family of one young protester, Uday Al Ruba'i, accused Hamas forces of kidnapping him on March 28 and torturing him after he took part in a protest against the group in Gaza city. "They want to shoot me … some masked men came after my brother. They could be Al Qassam [Brigades], God knows. And I've been on the run since the morning," Mr Al Ruba'i, 22, said in a video message posted online, referring to the armed wing of Hamas. Soon after, his brother Hussein posted a video statement while standing next to Mr Al Ruba'i's grave, vowing that the family would not hold any mourning ceremonies without exacting retribution. "They betrayed him, and killed him," he said. The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) condemned the "extrajudicial killing" and highlighted it as a symptom of a wider issue. "The ICHR views this crime as part of the deteriorating security chaos, the proliferation of weapons, and the absence of the rule of law in Gaza, posing a serious threat to public rights and freedoms," it said in a statement. Days later a family in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza, said they had killed a Hamas police officer who opened fire during a stampede outside a flour storage site, killing one of their members. Hamas said its officer was killed by "criminals" and asserted that "Israel's attempts to break the internal front and spread chaos will not succeed". "We will not allow any party to spread chaos in Gaza Strip or take the law into their hands," the group said in a statement. Gazan political analyst Muhammad Shehada, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, accused Israel of being the root cause of the deterioration in security. "This is exactly why Israel has been reaching out to families and clans in Gaza and pitting them against each other; it's why they've been arming criminals and gangs, and recruiting collaborators and spies at gunpoint; to fully collapse Gaza as a society," he wrote on X. Another Gazan analyst, Khalil Al Sayegh, said people saw putting pressure on Hamas to accept the truce terms demanded by Israel with the backing of the US – which helped to mediate the initial truce alongside Egypt and Qatar – as the only way to end their suffering. "People are exhausted of the war and think and hope that if Hamas make a huge compromise and leave the government and dismantle, it'll end the genocide and end the unbearable pain they've been going through the past 18 years with war after war," Mr Al Sayegh told The National. However, Gazans remain clear about which party is to blame for the misery, he said. "No one in Gaza is under the illusion that Israel is a friend, and that they're only rising against Hamas. They know that Israel is the enemy and is using Hamas to kill them and inflict suffering on them." Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, said an uprising against Hamas could be a way to avoid a full Israeli occupation of Gaza. "Occupation is the more probable scenario, unless the protesters reach 100,000 which would be a tipping point to convince Hamas to accept the Witkoff proposal," he said, referring to the truce terms endorsed by Steve Witkoff, the US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy. He said Israel's increased military pressure was to force Hamas to not only free the remaining hostages it seized during the October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war, but to also lay down its arms and for its leaders to leave Gaza. However, he sees "no indication" that Hamas would agree to this.
