Hamas: March of Return Will Not End until Siege Does

“We have seen aid deliveries, offers and actions, the opening of the Rafah crossing in an effort to end this humanitarian tragedy in Gaza. This is thanks to God, the steadfastness of our people and the blood of our martyrs,” Ismail Haniyeh said, Middle East Monitor reported.

“We live in the throes of victory and the beginning of ending the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, and these achievements will be built upon and carried out in order to strengthen the unity of our people,” he continued.

“The blood of the martyrs occupied all international television stations and stole the limelight from the Zionist project to move embassy to Jerusalem and claiming it their capital,” Haniyeh added.

In an apparent reference to Egypt’s claims that it had asked the movement to reign in the protests following the massacre on Monday, Haniyeh said “If something is presented to Hamas during our visit to Egypt we will not make a decision until we have told other factions this is what was offered to us.”

“The march is a national decision and Hamas cannot intervene,” he continued, adding that “this march will not stop until the siege on Gaza is lifted completely”.

Hamas’ chief in the Gaza Strip vowed on Wednesday to use military force against Israel if the blockade continues.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera TV on Wednesday evening, Yahya al-Senwar stressed that the March of Return has put the Palestinian cause on the world’s agenda once again.

“We have recently sent clear messages [to Israel] that we will not hesitate to use military force if the blockade [since 2007] of Gaza continues,” he stressed.

Hamas and the Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip are trying to keep the marches peaceful, and if circumstances require a military option, that would happen later, he pledged.

“The strategic circumstances surrounding the Palestinian issue are very complicated, especially with the US administration, which fully adopts the Zionist position, and deals with the resistance of our people as terrorism,” he added.

He said the March of Return “has also achieved many goals, most notably putting the case of the [Gaza] embargo for discussion in international bodies and countries”.

Head of Hamas’s Political Bureau on Tuesday said that the Palestinian people will continue the “Great Return March” rallies as Israeli armed forces have killed more people in the Gaza Strip, bringing the number of killed Palestinians to 64.

Haniyah in a speech during a mass demonstration near the Palestinian-Lebanese border on Tuesday evening said those who bet on breaking the will of the Palestinian people will never win.

He added that the US embassy transfer has unmasked many conspirators around, warning that “do not test the patience of the al-Qassam Brigades”.

The chief stressed that the blood of martyrs in Gaza has opened a new chapter in the history of the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their ongoing resistance, calling on the Palestinian Authority to officially declare the end of the Oslo Agreement.

He affirmed that the popular protests will escalate and extend to the West Bank, the diaspora and the 1948 occupied territories.

The Hamas official stated that his Movement will always be loyal to the Palestinian struggle, slamming at the same time all those who remained silent vis-à-vis the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The Hamas Movement had warned of its impatience and response over Israel’s ongoing crimes against the Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially after the massacre which the Tel Aviv regime committed during the recent rallies.

“The patience of the resistance factions, spearheaded by Hamas and al-Qassam Brigades, will not be long over the occupation’s crimes against [the participants in] the March of Return,” member of Hamas’s political bureau Khalil al-Hayya told a news conference, Palinfo reported.

“The enemy and its followers should not test our patience,” Hayya added.