'Israel' jeopardizing Gaza ceasefire preservation: Hamas

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News Websites
8 Feb 2025 19:22

A senior Hamas official calls our "Israel" for threatening the collapse of the ceasefire while urging Arab nations to reject normalization.

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Hamas fighters take up positions ahead of a captive release in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025 (AP)

The Israeli occupation's non-commitment to the ceasefire agreement in Gaza threatens its collapse, a senior Hamas official stated, as reported by AFP.

According to Basem Naim, a member of Hamas' political bureau, "Israel's procrastination and lack of commitment in implementing the first phase... certainly exposes this agreement to danger and thus it may stop or collapse."

Consequently, Naim relayed Hamas' aversion to renewing the war with "Israel", saying it was "certainly not our wish nor our decision."

He further urged Arab nations to reject recognition of the Israeli occupation, as the United States pushes Saudi Arabia to join a select group of its neighbors in establishing ties.

"We urge them not to normalize," said Naim, adding "We call on all Arab countries, both those currently normalizing and those considering normalization, to step back from this."

Saudi normalization plan complicated by Trump's Gaza plan

While the United States pursues its wish to incorporate Saudi Arabia into the "Abraham Accords", President Donald Trump's proposal to displace two million Palestinians from Gaza and rebuild the strip as the "Riviera of the Middle East" may have caused a setback to this end, The New York Times reported.

Saudi Arabia, along with several other Arab countries, swiftly rejected the plan, and the kingdom reaffirmed its demand for a Palestinian state before any normalization with the Israeli occupation, citing it was a non-negotiable condition.

Public indignation in the kingdom over the war, and now over Trump's suggestion to empty Gaza, has complicated the prospects for an agreement with "Israel" that was already going to be tough to implement, NYT highlighted.

Cracks are also becoming more evident in the connection between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

The kingdom's former espionage head and US ambassador Prince Turki al-Faisal told CNN Wednesday that Trump "will get an earful from the leadership here" not just about the lack of sense in what he is suggesting but also about the immorality of "ethnic cleansing".