Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has urged the Palestinians to reject displacement within the Gaza Strip or out of the blockaded enclave to Egypt following Israeli air strikes and calls to evacuate. He also called the October 07 attack a strategic strike.Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on Israel-Hamas conflictIn a televised speech, Haniyeh called the massive assault that targeted Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7 a “strategic strike” that would aid “our liberation.”Meanwhile, over 1,300 people have been killed in Israel since the Hamas group attacked the countrys south, killing both civilians and security forces and taking at least 120 captives, according to Israeli officials.As a retaliation, Israel pummelled Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire which have claimed at least 2,215 lives in the blockaded Palestinian enclave over the past week, said the Hamas officials.The Israeli army has called on Gazans in the north of the enclave to head south to avoid the strikes.Haniyeh urges Palestinians not to be displaced from Gaza“No to displacement from the (West) Bank, not from Gaza and no to displacement from Gaza to Egypt,” Haniyeh said in his speech.“Our decision is to remain on our land.”“We want this occupation to leave our land,” the Qatar-based said, “for us to have a state with Jerusalem as its capital… and for our Palestinian people to return.”On Saturday, the Hamas chief also accused Israel of committing war crimes and preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza.“Israeli atrocities amount to war crimes,” he said in a letter addressed to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that was posted on the Palestinian groups website.Then, he also condemned the “barbaric Israeli siege imposed” on the Palestinian territory, charging that “the Israeli occupation is banning entry of humanitarian aid and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip”.Haniyeh also urges UN for humanitarian helpHe urged Guterres to pressure Israel into letting humanitarian aid enter into Gaza.Israel has imposed a “complete siege” on the enclave following the Hamas surprise attack on October 07, halting electricity, water and fuel supplies.It says supplies will not be resumed until Hamas releases all of the captives its gunmen seized during the cross-border attack.Notably, around 2.4 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since Hamas seized power in the coastal enclave in 2007.
