BEIRUT (Palestine Foundation Information Center) Hamas official Osama Hamdan said in a press conference on Tuesday evening that at least 700 people have been killed during the Israeli military operation in northern Gaza which is in its 18th day.
Speaking from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Hamdan demanded a UN Security Council meeting to put pressure on Israel to stop the aggression.
The credibility of the international community and its institutions is being tested on the charters they were founded on, Hamdan said.
He said the death toll in northern Gaza “does not include those under the rubble or those who can’t be reached by ambulances.”
He pointed out that the relentless attacks by the Israeli forces aim to displace or exterminate the Palestinians.
“The Israeli occupation is committing systematic crimes in northern Gaza as part of acts of genocide, including executions, killing civilians, arbitrary detention, forced evacuation, displacement, starvation, and attacking hospitals,” Hamdan said.
The Hamas top official said the “safe passages” designated by the Israeli army “have turned into traps for Palestinians, including women and children.”
“The Palestinian people have the right to make their own choices, and they are the ones who will determine the details of the post-war era, not Israel and the US,” he added.
Only Palestinians can decide the details of the day after the war, he concluded.