Hamas: Trump’s envoys have become IDF spokesmen

A Hamas spokesperson claimed the top US administration officials have “endorsed the Israeli narrative.”

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Updated: JULY 22, 2018 02:03
Hamas members in Gaza (photo credit: REUTERS)
Hamas members in Gaza
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Hamas on Saturday rejected as “trivial” an offer from the US administration to help the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in return for ending attacks on Israel.
In response to published in The Washington Post by US President Donald Trump’s advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, in which they called on Hamas to cease provoking or coordinating attacks on Israelis and Egyptians, and on infrastructure projects sponsored by donor nations and organizations, the terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip accused the senior American officials of serving as spokesmen for the IDF.
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri, commenting on the article, claimed that the top US administration officials have “endorsed the Israeli narrative.”
Abu Zuhri said that the continued attacks on Hamas “reflected the US administration’s triviality.” Officials of the US administration, he added, have become “spokesmen for the occupation army.”
In their article, titled, “Help is at hand for Palestinians. It’s all up to Hamas,” the three US officials wrote: “The nightmare of Hamas’s leadership is continuing and needlessly prolonging the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
They said, “Life could significantly improve in short order for the Palestinian people if Hamas allowed it. There are engaged, interested parties with resources who are ready to get to work. Yet without real change accompanied by reliable security, progress is impossible. If Hamas demonstrates clear, peaceful intentions – not just by word but, more importantly, by deed – then all manner of new opportunities becomes possible.”
Kushner, Greenblatt and Friedman called on Hamas to “immediately cease provoking or coordinating attacks on Israelis and Egyptians, and on infrastructure projects sponsored by donor nations and organizations. Rather than looking for opportunities to weaponize everything from kites to mirrors in order to attack Israel, Hamas should focus its ingenuity on improving the Gazan economy. Rather than cynically attempting to exploit its barbaric holding of Israeli soldiers and citizens, Hamas must return them to their families. Instead of exploiting crossings such as Rafah and Salah al-Din to smuggle weapons and siphon off tax revenue for illicit purposes and personal enrichment, Hamas must hand those functions over in their entirety to the Palestinian Authority so that badly needed materials can get through to the people of Gaza. The international community stands ready to work with the Palestinian Authority on this vital effort.”
Khalil al-Haya, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, also rejected the US offer, saying his movement would not pay any political price in return for the lifting of the sanctions imposed on the coastal enclave.
Haya, who was speaking at the funeral of Abdel Karim Radwan, a Hamas operative who was killed by the IDF last Thursday, said the “resistance” would continue “until our land is freed.” Hamas, he added, “will not pay any political price in return for the lifting of the blockade [on the Gaza Strip]. The resistance and marches [along the border with Israel] will continue until we achieve all our goals. We will not be intimidated by threats.”