Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, called on Thursday for intensifying confrontation with Israel “on all fronts of resistance.” Israel, in turn, warned that the ceasefire announced for tomorrow in the Gaza Strip does not mean the end of the fight against Hamas.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Abu Ubayda called for “intensified confrontations against the occupation in the West Bank and on all fronts of resistance.” The statement came ahead of the ceasefire announced on Friday, under which Israel will release a number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the first group of hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. According to previous reports, this will be part of a total of 300 prisoners convicted for attacks on Israeli security forces in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli told the BBC that Friday’s ceasefire will only be a break in the fight against Hamas. “We have no intention of ending the war against Hamas,” the minister from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party emphasized.
Asked whether an extension of the ceasefire could be considered to further exchange hostages, Chikli emphasized that Israel had no confidence that Hamas would fulfill its obligations. The minister even allowed the ceasefire, which was originally scheduled to take effect on Thursday, to be postponed again, which he said was due to the fact that Hamas could not be trusted. “We hope to see our thirteen men, women and children tomorrow. But until this happens, we must remain skeptical,” the Israeli minister said.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry announced this on Thursday. At 7 a.m. (6 a.m. in Poland), the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that has been negotiated in recent days will come into effect. Later, at October 16 (3 p.m. in Poland), the first group of Hamas hostages will be released – 13 Israeli citizens kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Hamas representatives confirmed that the ceasefire would come into effect on Friday morning. They announced that it would last four days and that fifty hostages would be released during that time.
DAD
Source: wPolityce