This is a battle of wills: Hamas condemns Israeli violations of Gaza truce, deadly assaults in West Bank

Ahram Online , Tuesday 4 Feb 2025

Abdul Latif Al-Qanou, spokesperson for Hamas, condemned on Tuesday Israel's obstruction of aid from entering the Gaza Strip, as stipulated under the ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian faction and Israel.

Jabalia
Palestinian children play next to debris in their home in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on February 4, 2025. AFP

 

Al-Qanou said Israel was “obstructing the humanitarian protocol of the ceasefire agreement” and attempting to “evade and stall its implementation.”

The three-phase ceasefire/ prisoner-swap agreement, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, was enacted on 19 January.

The deal requires 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the ceasefire, 50 of them carrying fuel, with 300 allocated to the north, where conditions for civilians are particularly difficult.

However, Israel has allowed far fewer trucks than agreed upon to enter the strip.

Moreover, the Israelis are allowing the entry of non-essential goods over more essential ones, such as fuel, electric generators, or solar panels needed to operate hospitals, and medicine and other essential goods, according to Gaza officials.

The north of Gaza, which has been levelled by the war and left starving by Israeli forces, is the area most in need of aid.

However, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, only 35 percent of aid trucks make it into the north. 

Gaza should also receive 30 fuel trucks daily to sustain basic services like hospitals, water facilities, and electricity generators.

However, according to the monitor, the strip receives only 14 trucks daily.

Al-Qanou emphasized the urgency of humanitarian aid and rebuilding Gaza’s devastated infrastructure.

“Providing shelter and relief to our people is an urgent humanitarian issue that cannot tolerate Israeli evasion and delays,” he asserted.

“Rebuilding hospitals, repairing roads, and restoring water wells are essential to bringing life back to Gaza after the massive destruction.”

“Negotiations for the second phase of the agreement have begun,” Al-Qanou confirmed.

The ceasefire/prisoner-swap agreement spans three phases. 

The first phase, lasting 42 days, includes a ceasefire, Israeli troop repositioning, prisoner exchanges, the return of deceased remains, the return of displaced persons, medical evacuations, large-scale humanitarian aid, and the rehabilitation of essential infrastructure in Gaza.

The second phase is expected to cover the release of the remaining captives and to include discussions on a more permanent end to the war.

Phase 3 will include a major reconstruction plan for Gaza. 

“Our priority remains the shelter, relief, and reconstruction efforts for our people in Gaza.” 

Al Qanou's statements came on the eve of Netanyahu's anticipated visit to Washington, where he is likely to press with his unrealized goals for the Gaza war, including stopping Hamas from returning to power in the strip. 

'Enduring the impossible'
 

The Hamas spokesperson also denounced Israel’s continued violations of the ceasefire agreement and its intensifying aggression in the West Bank.

He also linked Israel’s tactics in Gaza to its growing military aggression in the occupied West Bank, particularly following its latest ongoing deadly operation in Jenin.

Immediately after the Gaza ceasefire went into effect, Israeli forces started a deadly operation targetting Jenin and its refugee camp in the West Bank, killing and wounding dozens, demolishing homes, and forcing the residents to flee.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) stated that the Israeli offensive had displaced nearly 30,000 Palestinians from Jenin and disrupted the work of 13 UN-run schools serving 5,000 children. 

The Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank is heading in a "catastrophic direction", the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday, adding that residents had "endured the impossible."

The Palestinian foreign ministry on Sunday condemned the Israeli military's widespread destruction of buildings in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The ministry "condemns, in the strongest terms, the bombings committed by the Israeli occupation forces... including their action today, Sunday, to blow up large neighbourhoods of the Jenin camp," it said in a statement, describing it as a "brutal scene."

The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday denounced an ongoing Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, saying it was aimed at "ethnic cleansing" and urging the United States to intervene.

The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said Israeli forces have killed 70 people in towns and villages across the territory since the start of 2025.

In a statement, spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the presidency "condemned the occupation authorities' expansion of their comprehensive war on our Palestinian people in the West Bank to implement their plans aimed at displacing citizens and ethnic cleansing".

Al-Qanou blamed the international community’s inaction for encouraging Israeli escalations.

“The absence of accountability for the occupation and the silence of the world community embolden Israel to commit genocide in the West Bank just as it has in Gaza.

Al-Qanou warned that Israel’s ultimate goal is to erase the Palestinian presence in both Gaza and the West Bank.

“All of the occupation’s attempts to exterminate our people and erase their rights in Gaza and the West Bank will fail,” he declared.

“What the occupation failed to achieve in Gaza, it will not achieve in the West Bank. This is a battle of wills.”

Short link: