Senior Hamas member says group open to cease-fire but against US, Israeli interference

By Nour Mahd Ali Abu Aisha

BEIRUT (AA) - Osama Hamdan, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas's top representative in Lebanon and a member of its politburo, said they are open to any proposal for a final and complete cease-fire in the Gaza Strip but are opposed to administrations imposed by Israel or the US.

During a press conference Thursday in the Lebanese capital Beirut, Hamdan provided information about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israel seizing the bodies of 80 Palestinians and political efforts being pursued.

Highlighting Israel's numerous crimes during its attacks, which have been ongoing in Gaza for 83 days, he said "Israeli forces stole the bodies of 80 people from various parts of Gaza.”

"They opened graves, took out the bodies, and stole their organs. The International Committee of the Red Cross handed over these bodies as if nothing had happened, without making any statements about the identities of these bodies," he said.

"We demand that the Red Cross committee explain how they received these corpses without any information about how these individuals were martyred and their identities," he added.

Hamdan emphasized that there is not enough aid entering Gaza, leading to people dying from hunger and thirst, especially women, children, the injured and the sick.

He called for urgent action from the Arab and Islamic world and the international community to ensure the delivery of food supplies, particularly to northern Gaza, and to prevent more people from dying each day.

- Captives held by Hamas and Israel's 'defeats'

Addressing Israel's attacks in Gaza, Hamdan said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, senior Minister Benny Gantz and Defense Minister Yoav Galant “claim to have passed from one phase to another for three months and deceive themselves and the people with a fake victory. In reality, they are facing defeat after defeat."

Hamdan also spoke about the captives held by Hamas, saying: "Netanyahu thought he could retrieve the captives through military pressure."

"I challenge you to show a single captive brought back by Netanyahu without bowing to the conditions of the resistance. I say it clearly: you can only retrieve your captives through military pressure as lifeless bodies or not retrieve them at all."

- 'Our people want complete cease-fire'

Regarding political efforts, Hamdan emphasized that Hamas is open to any proposal for a final and complete cease-fire in Gaza.

"Our people want not a fragmented or temporary but a complete cease-fire," he said.

Hamdan also stressed that the issue of governing the Palestinian people concerns Palestinians and that the people want a national administration committed to resistance and dedicated to achieving national goals, not a government brought in by Israeli or US tanks.

Egypt had prepared a "preliminary proposal" for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip on Dec. 27.

Diaa Rashwan, chairman of the Egyptian State Information Service, said Thursday that they have not yet received an official response from the parties to the proposal.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul