The head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, warned against the Israeli army’s invasion of the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, stressing at the same time the readiness of the resistance factions on the ground.

In an interview conducted by Haniyeh with Anatolia Agency on the sidelines of his visit to Turkey, he said, "It is very clear that the Israeli enemy has a decision to violate every point, every place, and every city in Gaza, especially since it has been talking about Rafah for months."

Regarding Washington's position on the invasion, he explained that "the American position is deceptive, and their talk that they need to see plans to avoid harm to civilians is nothing but a deception."

Haniyeh justified this by saying, "All the civilians who were killed in Gaza were martyred by American weapons and missiles and by American political cover."

He continued, "When Washington stands within the Security Council and resorts to its veto power against the ceasefire resolution...what does that mean? It means that the United States gives full cover to the continuation of the killing and massacre towards Gaza, and when Washington yesterday took a veto decision against considering the State of Palestine a full member of the United Nations." This means that it adopts the Israeli position and is the one that stands against the rights of the Palestinian people.”

He added, "Therefore, we did not fall into this trap... the trap of deception and the so-called exchange of jobs between the Americans and the Israelis... We warn against entering Rafah, because this may cause a great massacre against our Palestinian people."

Haniyeh called on “all the brotherly countries in Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, and all European countries and others with direct responsibilities” to “take action to curb the Israeli aggression and prevent entry into Rafah, and even the necessity of complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and ending the aggression.”

He added, "If the Israeli enemy decides to go to Rafah, then our Palestinian people will not raise the white flag, and the resistance in Rafah is also ready to defend itself, confront the aggression, and protect itself and its people."

After the "Flood"

Haniyeh talked about what will happen with regard to the administration of the Gaza Strip after the end of the Israeli war, saying, "There are options and alternatives proposed with the presence of an Arab force, for example."

He added, "We welcome any Arab or Islamic force if its mission is to support our Palestinian people and help them liberate from the occupation (Israel). However, an Arab or international force coming to provide protection for the occupation is certainly rejected."

Haniyeh added, "There are alternatives that have been proposed, but they are impractical and cannot succeed," stressing that "the administration of Gaza must be done with Palestinian will."

He pointed out that "Hamas is not committed to unilateral representation. We are part of the Palestinian people and we can build a national unity government and agree to manage Gaza on the basis of partnership."

Haniyeh stressed that "these (Gaza administration) issues are national, and we will not allow the occupation or anyone else to arrange the Palestinian situation in Gaza, the West Bank, or both."

“The blood of my children is not more precious than the blood of our people.”

Commenting on the martyrdom of three of his sons and a number of his grandchildren in an Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip on April 10, Haniyeh said, “First, we ask God to have mercy on the martyrs and have mercy on the children and grandchildren. This crime reflects three indications: The first is the failure of the enemy to achieve its military goals over the course of 7 months.” ".

He added, "The Israeli enemy only succeeded in killing thousands of children, women, and elderly civilians, and therefore the Eid massacre, which claimed the lives of 3 children and 5 grandchildren, falls within this context and confirms the failure of this enemy."

Israeli and American obstruction of negotiations

In his answer to the question of Hamas’ demands in the indirect negotiations with Israel regarding a ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners, Haniyeh said, “From the beginning, our positions were clear. We want to stop the aggression against our people.”

He added, "Stopping the aggression is a priority for us, and for that reason we agreed to enter into negotiations on the condition that they lead to a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal, and the return of all displaced persons, leading to an honorable exchange deal."

According to Haniyeh, Israel "until this moment, despite dozens of sessions and dozens of papers exchanged through mediators, has not agreed to a ceasefire, and all it wants is to recover its prisoners and then resume the war on Gaza, and this cannot happen."

Haniyeh said, "The Israeli enemy wants Hamas and the resistance to agree to maps for the deployment of the Israeli army, as if we are legitimizing the occupation of the Gaza Strip or part of the Gaza Strip, and this cannot be done. A complete withdrawal from Gaza must be achieved."

He added, "He does not want the displaced to return to northern Gaza and their places of residence. He only agrees to a gradual return in limited numbers, and this also cannot be done."

He continued by saying, "He does not want to give the required entitlement to the exchange process and sets very small numbers, and wants to control them, while he recently arrested nearly 14,000 Palestinians since October 7 from the West Bank and Gaza."

He stressed that "what is obstructing reaching an agreement is the occupation, and what is also obstructing reaching an agreement is the American administration, which at every negotiating stage adopts the Israeli vision, and does not put any pressure on the occupation to respond to the logical and correct demands, and at a time when the occupation certainly agrees to our demands." "We will be ready to sign the agreement."

He added, "Every paper presented by Hamas confirms that the countries of Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and Russia, along with the United Nations and the United States, are guarantors of the agreement, but every time the Israeli side refuses to have Turkey and Russia among the guarantor countries, so we are adhering to that despite the Israeli rejection."