The Commander of the U.S. Central Command published a statement on Wednesday evening, urging Hamas to ‘ceasefire on Palestinian civilians.’ This follows the release of a video by the movement showing mass executions in the streets. In his statement, Brad said: ‘We strongly urge Hamas to stop the violence and ceasefire on innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza immediately, whether in areas controlled by Hamas or those guarded by the Israeli army behind the yellow line.’ The U.S. military commander expressed hope that Hamas would utilize President Donald Trump’s plan to establish a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, considering it a historic opportunity for peace.
Hours after the ceasefire came into effect a few days ago, the Interior Ministry in the sector, affiliated with the Palestinian Hamas movement, conducted a security campaign in the area’s sectors. In contrast, the Palestinian presidency condemned, in the strongest terms on Tuesday, what it described as ‘field executions that affected dozens of citizens in the Gaza Strip, outside the law and without any fair trials.’
Opponents see this as an attempt to re-establish the movement’s rule, pre-empting any forthcoming political arrangement that could limit its influence. The American President, earlier commenting on the events in the sector when asked about the appearance of Hamas elements in Gaza streets, said: ‘They took out two gangs that were very bad, they took them out and killed a number of gang members. It didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you. It’s okay,’ he continued, ‘They want to stop the problems… and they talked about this frankly.’
