Islamic Jihad Official: US Main Obstacle to Gaza Ceasefire Agreement

By Staff, Agencies

The Islamic Jihad Deputy Secretary General Mohammad al-Hindi confirmed that the United States is the main obstacle to a Gaza ceasefire agreement as Washington exerts no pressure on the occupying Tel Aviv regime to accept a permanent truce in the territory.

“’Israeli’ prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu does not want a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to be established. We checked with the fellow Hamas group whatever happened during the course of truce negotiations in Cairo. Our national position was the same as what Hamas declared in the Egyptian capital,” al-Hindi said.

He added that Netanyahu’s insistence on “Israeli” control and presence in the so-called Philadelphi Corridor – a narrow 14.5-kilometer-long [9-mile-long] stretch of land along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, is politically-motivated and has nothing to do with purported security concerns.

“Control of the Rafah border crossing is an internal Palestinian matter, and no party can dictate how it should be managed,” the senior Islamic Jihad official noted.

Al-Hindi described the United States as the main obstacle to a Gaza ceasefire agreement, stressing it would be in the White House's best electoral interests that a ceasefire deal is struck in Gaza.

He also reiterated the need for free movement of Palestinians between the northern and southern sectors of the Gaza Strip.

“The Zionist enemy is backtracking on what it had previously agreed upon for partisan and political goals. The regime’s occupation of Gaza crossings enables its continued control over the movement and lives of Palestinians in the territory,” Al-Hindi pointed out.

He underscored that Palestinian resistance fighters, through daily operations, are sapping the “Israeli” military’s strength and forcing the occupation forces to withdraw from Gaza.