Jan 7, 2024
Top Hamas official in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, thanked South Africa for its courage and solidarity in working to hold Israel accountable to international law.
Top Hamas official in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, held a press conference in Beirut on Sunday, January 7, where he emphasized and reiterated major political points on behalf of the Palestinian Resistance movement.
Hamdan spoke about the massive death toll and destruction inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the Israeli war machine since October 7.
He scuffed at the idea of the so-called ‘voluntary migration’, Israel’s desire to ethnically cleanse Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
He also thanked South Africa for its courage and solidarity in working to hold Israel accountable to international law.
Below are selected excerpts from Hamdan’s daily press briefing.
Hamas representative in Beirut Osama Hamdan holds a press conference https://t.co/l9H8upHxO9
— Press TV (@PressTV) January 7, 2024
Thank you, South Africa
“We affirm that the cowardly assassination – of Hamas’ Deputy Head Saleh al-Arouri – will not succeed in breaking the will and resistance of our people and their valiant resistance. The assassination of the martyr Al-Arouri and his companions will not shake our convictions.
“The enemy will receive a response from us that will teach them a lesson that the assassination will not lead to weakening the Resistance.
“The number of martyrs (has) reached 29,722, including 10,000 children, 7,000 women, and 58,166 injured and wounded, while the number of missing in the Gaza Strip exceeded 7,000.
“The number of martyrs in the West Bank since October 7th has reached 321, including 111 children and 4 women.
“About 4% of the population of the Gaza Strip are among (the) martyrs, missing, and wounded.
“This Nazi occupation (Israel – PC) has destroyed about 70% of civil facilities and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, with the purpose of forcing the forced displacement of civilians.
“6,000 injuries require travel for treatment to save their lives, and only 650 wounded have traveled for treatment outside the Gaza Strip so far.
“The crimes of bombing and deliberate killing of Palestinian journalists continue, with 109 journalists martyred, the latest being: the martyred journalist Hamza Al-Dahdouh , son of journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, and the martyred journalist Mustafa Thuraya, in a Zionist attempt to terrorize journalists and deter them from conveying the truth.
“The occupation continues its crimes of destroying archaeological sites in Gaza, in a failed and desperate attempt to obliterate the Palestinian cultural and heritage presence. Over 200 out of 325 archaeological and heritage sites in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, including ancient mosques, churches, schools, museums, historical houses, and various heritage sites.
“Since the beginning of 2024, and over the past three months, the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Resistance have been and continue to launch rockets reaching the heart of the Israeli entity, once again proving their control over the course of the battle with great strength and capability, with much more in store.
“The repeated statements by the criminal leaders of the occupation about what they call the ‘voluntary migration of the residents of Gaza’ by the failure of Netanyahu and his ministers (Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir – PC) and other Nazi extremists, are nothing but expressions of illusions and dreams that will not come true. These foreign settlers will once again and forever migrate back to their original homelands.
“We specifically address the so-called Smotrich, this Nazi settler, the originator and promoter of this idea, that he will soon return to the land of his ancestors in Ukraine.
“We reiterate that the Gaza Strip will be exclusively Palestinian, and our people will decide its present and future, which will be an integral part of an independent State of Palestine with full sovereignty, with its capital in Al-Quds (East Jerusalem).
“We highly value and appreciate the friendly stance of South Africa in solidarity with our people and its rejection of the Zionist aggression. The latest of these positions was filing a lawsuit against the Israeli entity before the International Court of Justice (ICJ – PC) regarding the crimes of the occupation against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.
“We call on the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the African Union to support and endorse South Africa’s stance and build upon it, to further file lawsuits in international courts against this fascist entity for its crimes against our people.”
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