War, latest news. Egypt opens the Rafah crossing, and removes foreigners and seriously injured people from Gaza. Cut off communications in the sector

10:02

Ghazi Hamad (Hamas): They left us no choice but violence

“There are only two paths: peace or violence. (President of the Palestinian National Authority, editor.) Abu Abbas is a man of peace, and he is always there to speak, and after 30 years of words, what has he achieved? Less than zero. Israeli settlers’ confiscations of Palestinian lands and sectors have increased “Isolated in the West Bank. And this is not limited to the extremist policy of the Netanyahu government. There has never been a good time to cede anything to the Palestinians, just for the sake of expanding Israeli control. They left us no choice but violence.” Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas political council, said this in an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper from a “temporary apartment” in Beirut. Israel has the arrogance of someone behind whom the Americans stand and who does not care about international law. Think: why listen to Hamas if we can defeat it. Well, they were wrong, the Al-Aqsa operation is changing the Middle East.” The October 7 attack on Israel did not come to prevent Saudi Arabia’s recognition of Israel.

“This war has been going on for years. I remember at least six major clashes since 2009. In most cases, it was Israel that chose the moment, while the initiative is now in our hands. Why? About violations of Palestinian rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, About the civilians who were harassed at the checkpoints, about those killed in Jenin, Nablus and Jerusalem, and about the inaction of the various mediators (Egyptians, Qataris and the United Nations). We had to take the ball into our own hands,” explains the Hamas representative. “Israel is not a peaceful state. We have bombed Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran… – deplores – We have caused a huge shock and now everyone is taking measures to prevent the problem from spreading beyond our 365-kilometre strip. Well, we are no longer the only ones suffering and worrying. “We are paying a heavy price in blood, but it was necessary.”