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Hamas Thinks Israel Lost to Hezbollah; Now It Wants Similar Terms for Its Own Ceasefire
Palestinians gather to receive aid, including food supplies provided by World Food Program (WFP), outside a United Nations distribution center, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, Aug. 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Hamas believes that the ceasefire in Lebanon is a major step on the path towards what Palestinians consider to be total victory over Israel.
When the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted a poll earlier this year, it showed that the belief among “West Bank Palestinians” that Hamas would win the war increased from 69% to 79% during the period between March and June 2024, when particularly intense international pressure was being applied to Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire.
At the moment, Hamas is very pleased that a ceasefire has been declared on Israel’s northern front with Hezbollah, as it includes many components that Hamas would like to see in a Gaza ceasefire agreement.
For example, the Hezbollah deal ensures that Israel will make a full withdrawal, followed by permission being granted to Lebanese people to return to their homes close to the border, even homes that concealed terror tunnels and stockpiles of weapons.
Hamas sees this as a precedent, and put out a press release last week stating that the Hezbollah agreement was a “milestone” on Hamas’ path towards achieving its objectives as well:
The fact that the enemy [Israel] accepted the agreement with Lebanon without fulfilling the conditions it had set is an important milestone in shattering Netanyahu’s illusions about redrawing the Middle East map by force and his fantasies of defeating or disarming the resistance forces.
We emphasize that this agreement would not have been achieved without the steadfastness of the resistance and the popular cohesion around it …
While we in the Hamas movement monitor the developments surrounding this agreement in Lebanon, we affirm our commitment to cooperating with all efforts to establish a ceasefire in Gaza.
We aim to end the aggression against our people as part of a framework for ceasing hostilities in Gaza, under terms agreed upon nationally: a ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation’s forces, the return of displaced persons, and the completion of a genuine and full prisoner exchange deal.” [emphasis added]
[Shehab news agency (Hamas), Twitter account, November 27, 2024]
In Palestinian eyes, all Hamas must do to achieve victory is to survive. The ceasefire agreement in Lebanon has encouraged Hamas to believe that it can hold out for similar terms — terms that Israel has repeatedly said do not apply to the Gaza war.
Itamar Marcus is Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)’s Founder and Director. Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
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