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Middle East conflict

Any ceasefire in Gaza will be on Palestinians’ conditions, says Hamas spokesman

Mediatory efforts towards a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip have been failing so far, deputy head of the Hamas Political Bureau abroad Moussa Abu Marzouk said

CAIRO, May 17. /TASS/. Mediatory efforts towards a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip have been failing so far as any ceasefire will only be possible on conditions of the Palestinian resistance rather than of Israel, deputy head of the Hamas Political Bureau abroad Moussa Abu Marzouk said on Sunday.

"Mediatory efforts at the Gaza ceasefire talks have been failing so far," he said in an interview with Al Jazeera TV. "In any case, if it happens, the ceasefire will be on our conditions, on conditions of the Palestinian resistance, not on conditions of Israeli occupation."

Touching on Washington’s position, he noted that the United States "is the first after Israel to be responsible for Palestinians’ blood."

Israel and Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip have been exchanging missile strikes since May 10, following an outburst of unrest near the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City in early May. Clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli police were triggered by an Israeli court ruling to seize dwelling houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood from Arab families who have been living there for more than 50 years in favor of Jewish resettlers who had reportedly owned these buildings before 1948.

According to the latest reports, at least ten Israelis and about 220 Palestinians (197 in the Gaza Strip and 21 - on the West Bank) have been killed.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said earlier that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Netanyahu’s talk about imminent victory" were "ridiculous." "Killing of children is terrorism, it is not a victory," he said.

the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said earlier on Sunday that Palestinian radicals from the Gaza Strip had fired 3,100 missiles since May 10, with 1,210 of them being intercepted and 450 crashing in the Gaza Strip.

Tags

United States Palestine Israel Gaza Strip

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