GAZA, (PIC)
On the second anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle, the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas, reaffirmed that its top priority is an immediate end to the ongoing Israeli genocide and aggression against Gaza, while maintaining its full commitment to the Palestinian people’s national rights and their struggle for liberation and independence.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said the Palestinian people in Gaza have endured two years of “a genocidal war marked by starvation, mass destruction, and ethnic cleansing, the most brutal assault in modern history.”
Barhoum said that Israel had failed to achieve its declared goals, including forced displacement, recovering captives through military means, and installing proxy entities, despite committing systematic massacres against civilians.
He noted that the war has left more than 67,000 Palestinian martyrs, nearly 170,000 wounded, and over 15,000 missing, mostly women and children. At least 500 people, he added, have died of deliberate starvation amid “full US partnership and UN paralysis.”
He emphasized that 95% of the victims were unarmed civilians, calling the atrocities “an eternal stain on the face of the Israeli regime and its enablers.” The resistance, he stressed, remains committed to its legitimate struggle until freedom and independence are achieved.
Barhoum said the Israeli war is not only against Hamas but “an all-out war against Palestinian existence,” aiming to crush the people’s will and erase their cause. He warned that Israel’s expansionist policies threaten the stability and sovereignty of Arab and Muslim nations.
Holding both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government and the US administration fully responsible for the crimes in Gaza, Barhoum said the two share “political, legal, and moral accountability for an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”
He reiterated that Hamas had shown serious engagement with all ceasefire initiatives, including the latest proposal by US president Donald Trump, based on its national responsibility toward its people.
According to Barhoum, the Hamas delegation currently participating in talks in Egypt seeks to achieve a comprehensive agreement that meets the aspirations of Palestinians in Gaza, emphasizing six key demands:
1-A permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.
2-Full withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from all areas of Gaza.
3-Unrestricted entry of humanitarian and relief aid.
4-Return of displaced residents to their homes.
5-Immediate launch of a full-scale reconstruction process under a national Palestinian technocratic body.
6-A fair prisoner exchange deal.
He warned that Netanyahu is deliberately obstructing the negotiations, as he did in previous rounds, but said Israel has failed to secure any “false image of victory” despite its overwhelming force and US-backed genocide.
Barhoum also honored the memory of Hamas leaders and fighters who were killed in the conflict, including Ismail Haneyya, Saleh al-Arouri, Yahya al-Sinwar, and Mohammed Ad-Deif, as well as fighters from Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Jordan, Türkiye, and Qatar whose blood “mingled with that of the Palestinian people on the road to liberating Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.”
Hamas expressed deep gratitude to regional allies and mediators, particularly Qatar, Egypt, and Türkiye, for their continued political and diplomatic efforts, and to resistance allies in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iran for their steadfast support.
Barhoum concluded by calling on all Arab and Muslim nations, and free people around the world, to intensify efforts to support the Palestinian cause and ensure justice for the victims of Israel’s genocidal war.
Tuesday marks the second anniversary of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle, carried out by Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. The operation sent shockwaves through Israel’s security establishment, shattering the image of its intelligence and defense apparatus before the world.
