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️BREAKING: Taher Al-Nono, media advisor to the Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, to Al-Jazeera (1/2):
This weeping launched by Benjamin Netanyahu and his office before today is an attempt to reclaim the role of the victim and to revive the lies they initiated at the onset of the Al-Aqsa Flood. However, let me state very clearly: we are serious about implementing the agreement.
A mistake may have occurred, and we are investigating how it happened on our part. Nevertheless, the full responsibility lies squarely with Benjamin Netanyahu.
I would like to recount some facts, particularly regarding the early days when a group of civilians was taken hostage. We wanted to release the civilians immediately and without any conditions during the initial days of the war, and we clearly stated that we wanted a ceasefire so that we could deliver all the civilians.
At that time, all the civilian hostages were alive, but Netanyahu and his army rejected this offer. We continued discussing this matter until we reached the first truce in November 2023, at which point we offered to hand over the Bibas family, who had been killed shortly before. We wanted to deliver the mother and the bodies of the two sons as part of the deal, but the blame for the delay—and who now cries over this event—is on the occupation. It was the "israeli" army that bombed the residential area where this family lived. Tens of thousands of Palestinian children have been killed, and their remains have become intermingled.
The one bearing responsibility for these massacres is the one who committed them. The occupation destroyed all our hospital capacities; it even demolished the equipment used to lift rubble and recover bodies. This may in the future affect the possibility of a third phase of the agreement.
We clearly state that we demand the machines and equipment necessary to extract the bodies of the Palestinian martyrs as well as those of the hostages who were killed. We also require the equipment needed for DNA testing to identify the bodies—equipment whose testing capabilities were destroyed by the occupation.
We had been demanding these materials continuously, but the occupation kept stalling and procrastinating. Now they resort to this lamentation, while we remain serious about implementing the agreement. We will conduct an investigation to determine the circumstances and details related to this incident.
It is essential to know all the details, especially since the captor group has become martyrs and all those held captive were killed. An inquiry and investigation into the matter are underway; however, Netanyahu or his government must not challenge our seriousness.
We have just announced the names of the six captives who will be released tomorrow. For us, the process is ongoing, and if there was any error, it stems from a lack of capabilities, the martyrdom of the captor group, and the intermingling of the bodies.
For our part, we are moving forward in this phase. We have completed our negotiation preparations for the second phase, and we hold the American administration—which confirmed that the phases are interconnected and that a second phase exists—along with the mediators, responsible for ensuring this matter and obliging the occupation to implement the agreement without delay.
Taher Al-Nono, media advisor to the Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, to Al-Jazeera (2/2):
Any hesitation on the part of the occupation or attempt to shirk responsibilities is completely unacceptable. Today, what we witness is a simple example of what the occupation’s bombardment has caused—a fact we have been affirming since the beginning of the war. The occupation deceives its citizens, and Netanyahu has no interest in retrieving the captives.
Today, if Netanyahu were to know the whereabouts of living captives, he would order his army to bomb and kill them because he is not interested in retrieving them alive. This has been clear from the outset and remains so to this moment. Therefore, this lamentation is nothing more than an attempt to distance himself from completing the agreement.
The occupation is engaging in systematic practices—whether it is the implementation of the humanitarian protocol, the introduction of necessary materials, the handling of the captive issue, or even the return of the displaced from the south [of the Gaza Strip]. It is stalling on all these issues with the aim of terminating the agreement and shifting the blame onto us.
We continue to implement all our commitments transparently, and we affirm that the mediators must compel the occupation to fulfill its commitments. We also call for this agreement to be internationally safeguarded through the United Nations and via a Security Council resolution, to prevent Netanyahu from evading it.
What Netanyahu mainly desires today is for the agreement to collapse and for its terms not to be honored. Therefore, there must be a clear international movement to ensure its continuity, because the occupation is seeking by all means to undermine it and to lay the blame on us to justify its evasion of its commitments.
Mike