Hamas slams Israel's Gaza City takeover plan as 'war crime, ethnic cleansing'
Iran Press TV
Friday, 08 August 2025 5:18 PM
Hamas has vehemently condemned Israel's plan to occupy Gaza City as a "full-fledged war crime" and "ethnic cleansing" that will come at a "high cost" for the occupying regime.
Israel's war cabinet on Friday approved a military blueprint to capture Gaza City and tighten its grip on the besieged strip—an area it has relentlessly bombarded for months.
"The approval by the Zionist 'cabinet' of plans to occupy Gaza City and forcibly evacuate its residents constitutes a new war crime that the occupation army is preparing to commit against the city and its nearly one million inhabitants," Hamas said in a statement Friday.
In the same statement, Hamas warned that Israel's "reckless adventure" would "not be a walk in the park" and vowed it would "pay a heavy price" for any attempt to forcefully capture the city.
The group further said Israel's "manipulation of language by replacing the term 'occupation' with 'control' is nothing more than an obvious attempt to evade its legal responsibility for the consequences of this brutal crime."
Hamas further said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his "Nazi" cabinet were showing "no concern for the fate of Israeli captives in Gaza," saying the expansion of the war amounts to a "calculated decision to sacrifice" them.
Elsewhere in the statement, Hamas said Netanyahu's plan explains Israel's sudden withdrawal from the last round of negotiations. It added that the two sides had been on the verge of reaching a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.
"We reiterate that, during our communication with mediators, the movement offered all the necessary flexibility and positivity to ensure the success of the ceasefire efforts."
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad called the decision "a complete escalation of genocide."
Jihad described it as "Nazi-style terror" and held Arab and Western governments, alongside the US, responsible for enabling escalation.
The resistance movement stated that the Israeli occupation torpedoed all truce talks and "those betting on a settlement got slapped."
Recent reports reveal that Netanyahu ignored calls from senior ministers to speed up ceasefire talks and deliberately restricted aid to Gaza to force Hamas to surrender.
Israel had previously withdrawn troops and settlements from Gaza in 2005, ending a 38-year occupation, but has since imposed a crippling blockade and waged repeated assaults that have left tens of thousands dead and the strip in ruins.
A former director of Israel's internal spy agency, known as Shin Bet, has issued a strong condemnation of Tel Aviv's relentless military assault on the besieged Gaza Strip.
In a pointed article published in Foreign Affairs on Thursday, Ami Ayalon, who also once commanded the Israeli navy, declared, "Israel is fighting a war it cannot win."
Ayalon described the assault as "unjust, immoral, and counterproductive," urging the international community to enforce a political endgame.
The military wing of the Hamas resistance movement, the Qassam Brigades, recently warned that if Israel chooses to continue with the "war of extermination," it will witness increasing funerals of its soldiers and military officers.
Israel has been facing mounting outrage over its destructive war on Gaza, where it has killed more than 61,300 people since October 2023. The genocidal war has devastated the besieged strip and brought it to the verge of famine.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the besieged coastal territory.
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