Al-Qassam Brigades say ending Israeli aggression on Gaza is priority

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Palestinian group Hamas’s military wing said late Thursday that ending Israel’s aggression on the Gaza Strip is a priority for them, reiterating their rejection of any prisoner exchange deal or negotiations without this condition being met.

This was stated in a recorded speech by Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, which was broadcast on the Al-Jazeera satellite channel.

Abu Ubaida announced that Al-Qassam fighters “have destroyed more than 825 military vehicles, including armored personnel carriers, tanks, bulldozers and trucks since the beginning of the (Israeli) ground offensive.”

“Our priority is to stop the aggression on our people in Gaza, and no other priority precedes it,” he added.

He emphasized that “we will not accept any (prisoner) exchange deals or proposals before the complete cessation of the aggression on our people in Gaza.”

Osama Hamdan, Hamas's top representative in Lebanon and a member of its politburo, said during a press conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut just minutes before Abu Ubaida's speech that his movement is open to “any proposals to completely and finally stop the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.”

The statements from Hamdan and Abu Ubaida come hours after an official Egyptian announcement on Cairo presenting a proposed framework for ending the ongoing war against the Gaza Strip and stopping the bloodshed. It includes three consecutive and interconnected stages culminating in a cease-fire.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala