Hamas spokesman: “Ceasefire will probably take place soon”

A ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militias in Gaza “will probably take place soon,” a spokesman for the Islamist movement Hamas told EFE.

“A ceasefire will probably take place soon, but it largely depends on whether the Israeli occupation is willing to respect the rights of Palestine,” indicated that same source.

For two days, a rumor has spread through various media that, through Egypt, a ceasefire could come into effect on Thursday, a possibility that Israel has denied and that Hamas neither confirmed nor denied.

But Musa Abu Marzuq, a senior official in the Islamist movement Hamas, announced last night in an interview with Lebanese television that a truce could be imminent.

“I believe that the efforts being made for a ceasefire are going to be successful,” said Abu Marzuq.

The possibility of a cessation of hostilities gathers steam as international pressure mounts for a truce to end the 11-day escalation of the war, which has left 230 Palestinians dead in the strip due to shelling by Israeli troops and 12 people. in Israel as a result of the rockets launched by the militias.

INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE

US President Joe Biden yesterday urged “an immediate significant de-escalation” in a telephone conversation with the acting Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, although he later spoke in favor of continuing the military operation in Gaza to finish dismantling Hamas’s military infrastructure.

Netanyahu, who also did not rule out the possibility of “conquering Gaza,” insisted on the need to “restore tranquility and security” to its citizens, in what he described as “a strong deterrent” against the militias.

To promote a cessation of hostilities, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is visiting Israel today to analyze “how the international community can help put an end to the violence and have a reliable truce as quickly as possible.”

Despite international pressure for a ceasefire, the Israeli Army again this morning to bombard multiple targets of the Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, from where the firing of rockets towards the neighboring Israeli communities continued today, after a relatively quiet morning, which included an anti-tank missile against a bus, slightly wounding a soldier.

The Israeli Army, for its part, continued today with its bombardments in the enclave, which after hitting weapons production and storage sites this morning, hit several sites from which the militias launched rockets, in addition to tunnels allegedly used by Hamas for the movement of combatants and the transport of weapons from one area of ​​the enclave to another.