Hamas: U.S. Actions Are Just Buying Time to Continue Genocide /  Occupying Entity Escalates Airstrikes on the South and Beqaa Valley, Al-Qassam Prepares for Return of Martyrdom Operations

Albinaa’ Newspaper Headlines August 20, 2024

The political editor wrote

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded his visit, which initially sparked hopes for progress in negotiations. However, it became clear that the Doha meetings failed to produce any breakthroughs, despite overly optimistic statements that were disconnected from reality. Discussions within the occupying entity suggested that Blinken’s visit aimed to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to retreat from additional demands, particularly concerning the prisoner issue – where Netanyahu insisted on retaining veto power over the number, names, and destinations of those released – and the withdrawal issue, where he sought to maintain positions in central Gaza and along the Gaza-Egypt border.

Netanyahu also refused to acknowledge that the primary goal of the agreement was to end the war, instead tying any acceptance to Hamas agreeing to the occupying entity’s conditions for Gaza’s post-war status, implying that a return to war was inevitable otherwise.

After a three-hour closed meeting with Netanyahu, Blinken announced that Netanyahu had accepted the American proposal. Netanyahu expressed gratitude to Blinken for understanding the security concerns of the entity. Shortly afterward, it was leaked to the entity’s media that Netanyahu had, in fact, secured Blinken’s approval for his demands.

Blinken has made it clear: the ball is now in Hamas’s court – they must either accept or take responsibility for the failure of negotiations. This isn’t about a return to war, as the war never really ceased. In fact, the Chief of Staff of the occupying entity’s military has suggested that escalating military pressure during negotiations is key to securing better terms.

Hamas swiftly responded to Blinken’s remarks. Senior official Osama Hamdan noted that “Netanyahu’s claim of agreeing to a revised proposal signals that the U.S. administration failed to secure his approval for the original terms”.

He went on to say that “the U.S. is merely buying time to perpetuate the genocide”. Hamdan stressed, “Our only demand is the implementation of President Biden’s proposal, which we have already accepted”.

He further outlined that the agreement must include five key points, such as halting the aggression, withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, and initiating reconstruction. Hamdan added that “mediators will convey to Blinken that Hamas stands by its commitments and the agreement it approved on July 2nd”.

In a separate announcement, the Al-Qassam Brigades took responsibility for the Tel Aviv operation in collaboration with Saraya al-Quds.

They stated that martyrdom operations within Palestinian territories will resume after years of inactivity, in response to the ongoing massacres by the occupying entity in Gaza and the assaults by settlers and the occupying forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

On the Lebanese front, there has been a significant escalation in airstrikes by the occupying army in the south and the Beqaa Valley. Resistance operations are now targeting the occupying army’s barracks both along the border and deeper within the territory.