Hamas conditions ceasefire on Israel implementing understandings
Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), special broadcast on the ceasefire reached with Israel after a series of Gaza rocket attacks
Al-Aqsa TV host: “The resistance says, Mr. Mu’min, that the calm is conditioned on the occupation implementing the understandings. In your opinion, could it be that the occupation will again breach [the understandings], or will it heed [them] this time thinking that the negotiations in this round were held under fire and rockets, under strikes by the joint war room.”
Al-Aqsa TV “Hebrew Affairs Editor and Expert” Mu’min Meqdad: “Of course this is a problem and a difficulty that the resistance is dealing with, particularly regarding who will be the guarantor for what the occupation will carry out in the coming rounds. It is not possible to rely on any body, because all of the bodies that were guarantors for the ceasefires in the past, such as at the end of the war of 2014 (i.e., Operation Protective Edge; see note below) and also in the recent rounds and wars – nearly all of them failed to guarantee the ceasefire or the occupation’s implementation of the ceasefire understandings. It is expected that the resistance will define a number of the conditions that the occupation- that will force the occupation to implement these understandings.”
Visual: Text on screen caption: “The resistance: Calm conditioned on the occupation implementing the understandings”
May 2019 Gaza rocket attacks – The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations in Gaza launched a rocket barrage on Israeli civilian population centers on May 4, 2019, firing more than 700 rockets and murdering 4 Israelis in the course of two days. Israel responded by striking terror targets; 23 Gazans, many of them terrorists, were killed during the exchange of fire. On May 6 a ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas.
Gaza War 2014 / Operation Protective Edge – In June 2014, Hamas escalated its hostilities and attacks against Israel - including the firing of numerous rockets at Israel. Israel responded with Operation Protective Edge, which aimed at destroying Hamas' ability to launch rockets and its terror infrastructure in general, which included its building of cross-border tunnels for the purpose of terror attacks and kidnappings. The war began on July 7, 2014, when the Israeli government ordered the Israeli army to launch an aerial operation against Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, and continued until Aug. 26, 2014, when an open-ended ceasefire was declared. During the war, 32 Hamas cross-border tunnels built for the purpose of terror attacks were destroyed, and two thirds of Hamas' rocket arsenal was used up or destroyed. Despite claims by Hamas and others of Israel using disproportionate force and of an extreme amount of civilian casualties, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, stated on Nov. 6, 2014, that Israel had gone to “extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage and prevent civilian casualties in the Gaza conflict.”