Hamas Wants Humanitarian Truce Not Ceasefire
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called on Wednesday for a temporary truce to allow humanitarian relief into Gaza, but said his group would keep fighting against an Israeli offensive and would not agree to a more lasting ceasefire without full negotiation of terms.
“We are very interested to have a humanitarian truce as we did last Thursday. We need the calm for a few hours to evacuate the wounded and assist in the relief… This means a real truce backed by a real relief program offered to the people of Gaza,” he said at a news conference in Qatar.
The leader of the Islamist group, which controls Gaza, asked for the international community to help bring medicine, fuel and other supplies into the territory.
However, he said that any more permanent ceasefire could only come about after Israel ended its siege, and could only be implemented after it had been fully negotiated.
“Everyone wanted us to accept a ceasefire and then negotiate for our rights, we reject this and we reject it again today,” he said.
He said that despite efforts to broker a more lasting ceasefire, there had been no breakthrough. “We are very interested to have a humanitarian truce as we did last Thursday. We need the calm for a few hours to evacuate the wounded and assist in the relief… This means a real truce backed by a real relief program offered to the people of Gaza,” he said at a news conference in Qatar.
The leader of the Islamist group, which controls Gaza, asked for the international community to help bring medicine, fuel and other supplies into the territory.
However, he said that any more permanent ceasefire could only come about after Israel ended its siege, and could only be implemented after it had been fully negotiated.
“Everyone wanted us to accept a ceasefire and then negotiate for our rights, we reject this and we reject it again today,” he said.
He said that despite efforts to broker a more lasting ceasefire, there had been no breakthrough.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!