Hamas leader portrays ceasefire as defeat for Israel while hailing October 7 atrocities

Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said Israel had failed to achieve its goals in Gaza, calling the ceasefire and hostage-taking deal announced shortly before his speech Wednesday of a “historic moment” and describing it as a defeat for the Jewish state. .

“Our people have thwarted the declared and hidden objectives of the occupation. Today we prove that the occupation will never defeat our people and their resistance,” al-Hayya said in a speech televised from Qatar by the German news agency dpa.

He hailed the massacres of Israelis carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 prisoners in the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, as a “military achievement” and “a source of military inspiration”. of pride in our people,” according to a New York Times translation of his remarks.

Al-Hayya, who served as Hamas’ chief negotiator in the hostage talks, also praised other Iran-backed organizations, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, for launching attacks of solidarity against Israel.

He indicated that Hamas will continue to pursue the destruction of Israel, saying the Palestinian terrorist organization will continue to view Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a “compass.”

“Our enemy will never see a moment of weakness on our part,” he added.

Al-Hayya also asserted that Hamas “will not forgive” the suffering inflicted in the Gaza Strip amid the war sparked by its October 2023 attack, which led to massive devastation throughout the coastal enclave. The Hamas-run Health Ministry has since reported more than 46,000 deaths in Gaza, an unverified figure that makes no difference between civilians and fighters.

“In the name of all the victims, of every drop of blood shed and of every tear of pain and oppression, we say: we will not forget and we will not forgive,” al-Hayya said.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second-largest terrorist group after Hamas, also welcomed the ceasefire agreement, calling it “honorable.”

Hamas needed the support of Islamic Jihad for this agreement to avoid possible disruption of the process.

“Today, our people and their resistance imposed an honorable agreement to end the aggression,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement.

The Iran-backed terror group said the deal between Israel and Hamas includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as well as an “honorable” prisoner exchange, adding that terrorist organizations in Gaza “will remain vigilant to ensure full implementation of this agreement. »

Islamic Jihad also captured prisoners while taking part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and has been fighting Israeli forces in Gaza alongside Hamas ever since.

Under Wednesday’s multi-phase deal aimed at ending 15 months of fighting in Gaza, Hamas and other terrorist groups are expected to gradually release 94 of the 251 hostages kidnapped on October 7 who remain in Gaza .

Hamas freed 105 civilians during a week-long truce in late November, and four hostages had previously been freed. Eight hostages were rescued alive by troops, and the bodies of 40 hostages were also found, including three mistakenly killed by the army while trying to escape their captors.

Hamas also holds two Israeli civilians who entered the Gaza Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014.