Ismail Haniyeh—Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau waving to supporters at a rally for Hamas in the Gaza Strip, December 15, 2007. Photo: Mohamed Alostaz/PPM/Getty Images/File photo.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas issued a press statement on its official Telegram channel demanding that the United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in West Asia (UNRWA) exercise their legal and moral responsibility to reject Israeli threats to bomb UNRWA-run schools that are currently sheltering thousands of refugees in Gaza, mostly children, women, and elderly people.
The statement, released this Saturday, October 21, pointed out that four hospitals in Gaza are completely out of service “and 25 others are damaged by the bombing of the Israeli warplanes which continue to target the areas around the hospitals and health centers.” Hamas saluted administration and staff of the Al-Quds Hospital, currently housing approximately 12 thousand displaced people, for refusing “to surrender to the Israeli threats” of bombing the facility. The Palestinian Resistance organization stressed in the statement the importance of protecting hospitals and health-care centers as places protected by international humanitarian law.
The statement also clarified the circumstances behind the delivery of 20 trucks of humanitarian aid to Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. It highlights that, even during the last 17 years of siege, over 500 trucks of supplies were allowed to enter Gaza every day and that “these 20 trucks don’t meet any of Gaza’s basic needs of medical supplies and medicines.” Hamas called for the border to be permanently opened and to allow supplies continuously because “it is unacceptable that the Israeli occupation keep[s] control over the quantity allowed to enter Gaza, otherwise, these 20 trucks will be just a propaganda.”
Furthermore, the statement affirmed its release of two US citizens, a mother and a daughter, yesterday, October 20th, for humanitarian reasons and as a gesture of goodwill.
Hamas recognized the massive solidarity demonstrations around the world “which voiced their rejection to the Israeli aggression and the policy of expelling the Palestinians from their land under the cover and support from the US administration.” It called all people around the world to actively participate in solidarity events on Sunday, October 22, as the International Day of Solidarity with the Children of Gaza.
The full statement is provided below:
Ladies and gentlemen..peace be upon you
The Israeli occupation government and its fascist army continue the aggression on our people in Gaza for the 15th consecutive day in which the most heinous and obnoxious crimes and massacres against our civilian people were committed. The Israeli targets across Gaza were all civilian including children, women, civil defence rescue teams, hospitals, ambulances, media and press offices, bakeries, mosques, churches and the public infrastructure. In addition to that, and as known to all, the Israeli fascist authorities denied Gaza from electricity, water, fuel, medicines and all basic items, whereas such awful policies are committed in the full back and support of the US administration.
Based on that, we confirm the following:
(1) The Israeli continued threat to target the UNRWA-run schools along with its demand from the UNRWA administration to evacuate five of its schools used as shelters by thousands of people including children, women and elderly people, is a crime added to the series of crimes committed against the unarmed and defenceless civilians. Therefore, we demand the United Nations and the UNRWA administration to assume it legal and moral responsibility in rejecting such threats by the Israeli occupation, and to stick to its mandate of supporting and protecting the displaced people. We call upon all legal and relevant organizations to raise their voices and action to expose the Israeli sadism before the international public opinion.
(2) Four hospitals have so far become out of service and 25 others are damaged by the bombing of the Israeli warplanes which continue to target the areas around the hospitals and health centers. The Israeli occupation has also threatened the Red Crescent Society to evacuate the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza which is currently hosting some 12,000 displaced people. Here, we salute the administration of Al-Quds Hospital and its medical staff which refused to surrender to the Israeli threats. We also stress the importance of protecting the hospitals and health-care centers as places protected by the international humanitarian law.
(3) Today, 20 trucks loaded with medical supplies and canned-food crossed into Gaza via the Rafah crossing after two weeks of a total closure to all crossings with Gaza, whereas all commodities and medicines didn’t enter Gaza during that period. We, here, would like to clarify that an average of 500 loaded trucks used to enter Gaza on daily basis under the siege imposed on Gaza for 17 years. These 20 trucks don’t meet any of Gaza basic needs of medical supplies and medicines. Based on that we call for the following:
– The necessity to open the Rafah crossing on a permanent basis to facilitate the travel of injured people to the Arab and Islamic countries to continue their medical treatment, where the hospitals in Gaza don’t have enough beds to accommodate the wounded.
– To continue the flow of food assistance around the clock, it is unacceptable that the Israeli occupation keep control over the quantity allowed to enter Gaza, otherwise, these 20 trucks will be just a propaganda.
– We call on the UN, UNRWA and the Red Crescent Society to ensure the distribution of aid on the eligible people in northern and southern Gaza on equal basis.
– We call for the urgent entry of fuel for the hospitals and health centers as they are almost running out of fuel for their generators, and to avoid turning these hospitals into mass graves.
(4) In the frame of the Hamas Movement’s commitment to the mediators, especially the brother in Egypt and Qatar and other friendly states, yesterday in cooperation with the State of Qatar, we released two foreign women; a lady and her daughter who hold the US citizenship. In this context, we stress that we will continue to work with all mediators to implement the Movement’s decision to close the file of the civilian captives once the security and field conditions allow doing so.
We also hold the Israeli occupation the responsibility for the safety of all them due to the Israeli fascist and indiscriminate bombing across Gaza.
(5) We hail and salute the free peoples all over the world which responded to the calls for supporting the Palestinian people in Gaza, and which voiced their rejection to the Israeli aggression and the policy of expelling the Palestinians from their areas under the cover and support from the US administration. We reiterate our call to all peoples around the world to keep their activism, to gather in the central squares in all capitals, and to consider Sunday (Oct. 22) an international day for solidarity with the children of Gaza.
(6) We followed with interest the summit held in Cairo, we appreciate all efforts exerted to stop the Israeli aggression on our people, and we appreciates, as well, all supportive stances by the countries during the summit which backed the rights of the Palestinian people and their resistance and rejected the Israeli planned intention of expelling our people.
Finally, we pay tribute to the martyrs of our people in Gaza and all Palestine…
Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas
21 OCT
Official website – Hamas movement
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/DZ
