Palestinian resistance ‘ready’ for defense in case of Israeli attack on Rafah: Hamas

The head of the politburo of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has issued a stern warning against any Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, stressing that Palestinian resistance groups are ready to defend themselves and the besieged area.

Ismail Haniyeh sounded the alarm in an exclusive interview with Turkish news agency Anadolu on Sunday, after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussing the latest developments in Gaza amid Israel’s plans to carry out a broad offensive in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians live. are taking shelter.

Haniyeh warned of a possible military operation by the Israeli occupation army in Rafah, saying the offensive could lead to a massacre against the Palestinian people.

“I call on all brotherly countries, our brothers in Egypt, our brothers in Turkey, our brothers in Qatar as mediators, and the European countries to take action to curb (Israeli) aggression and prevent the Rafah operation, as well as the complete withdrawal (of the Israeli army) from the Gaza Strip and the end of attacks on Gaza,” he said.

Pointing to the resistance of the Palestinian people in the southern Gaza City, Haniyeh said: “If the Zionist enemy enters Rafah, the Palestinian people will not raise the white flag. The resistance fighters in Rafah are ready to defend themselves and resist attacks.”

The Hamas chief also denounced the US government’s duplicity and unbridled support for the Israeli regime’s months-long aggression against Gaza.

“The US position is deceptive, even though it does not say harm to civilians, this is an attempt at manipulation. All the civilians killed in Gaza, thousands, tens of thousands of martyrs, were killed with American weapons, with American weapons. missiles, under American political protection,” Haniyeh said.

“What does the US veto on the ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council mean? It means that the US fully protects and shelters the continuation of the massacres and killings against Gaza,” he added.

The Hamas leader also said that Israel, which heavily bombed Gaza first from the air and before entering by land, has adopted a strategy based on killings, imposing military and humanitarian blockades and destroying Palestinian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, bakeries, pharmacies and hospitals. factories.

“Nothing entered Gaza for more than five months. Hunger was used as a weapon to break the will of the people and pressure them to migrate from north to south. It is a very difficult situation, both in terms of the number of martyrs and the wounded. as well as those trapped under the rubble,” Haniyeh said.

“There are thousands of martyrs buried under the rubble. Every day we discover new mass graves.”

Haniyeh underlined that at least 500 trucks must enter Gaza daily for the reconstruction of hospitals, bakeries, infrastructure and shelters.

According to Turkish media reports, during their meeting on Saturday, Haniyeh and Erdogan discussed Israel’s attacks on Palestinian territories, as well as efforts needed to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The two also discussed measures to establish a fair and lasting peace process in Palestine to end Israel’s decades-long occupation.

Israel waged a genocidal war against besieged Gaza on October 7, after the Hamas-led Palestinian resistance group carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for the regime’s increased atrocities against the Palestinian people.

The Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 34,049 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 76,901 others.