TUNIS, August 3. /TASS/. Hamas’ armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, has said that it is ready to cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on issues of delivering humanitarian aid to hostages.
"Al-Qassam Brigades are ready to ready to positively engage and respond to any request by the Red Cross to bring food and medicine to the hostages," according to a statement by the spokesman for the Hama’s armed wing, Abu Ubaida, which was posted on the Hamas Telegram channel.
"The Al-Qassam Brigades do not deliberately starve the prisoners, but they eat what our mujahideen (fighters) and the general public eat, and they will not receive any special privilege amid the crime of starvation and siege," he emphasized, adding that Hamas insists "on the opening of humanitarian corridors in a normal and permanent manner for the passage of food and medicine to all our people in all areas of the Gaza Strip, and the cessation of all forms of enemy aerial activity during the times of parcel deliveries to the prisoners."
Humanitarian assistance from international humanitarian organizations and UN structures has not been reaching the Gaza Strip since March 2, Israel closed all checkpoints. Since May, Israel has been enforcing a new US-backed scheme to organize aid for Gaza residents, which transfers practically exclusive rights to establish distribution centers and provide food and essential goods to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). According to the plan, all international organizations involved in aid efforts, including UN agencies, are to operate solely through the GHF.
Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Khalil al-Hayya said on July 27 that further talks on a ceasefire in Gaza are pointless among the continuing blockade of the enclave. Prior to that, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli delegation to leave Qatar, where the Gaza settlement talks had been held since July 6, following Hamas’ response to the ceasefire terms. One the same day, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff announced on social media that Washington had decided to withdraw its negotiators from Doha, citing Hamas’ position as indicative of a "lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza." The radical argued that other mediators had allegedly approved the movement’s response, calling it "constructive.".