Hamas on Monday called on Arab countries to take practical steps to stop Israel’s starvation policy in Gaza, reports the Middle East Monitor.
Hamas’s call came a day ahead of an emergency Arab meeting in Cairo during which Egypt was to present an alternative plan for Gaza to counter US President Donald Trump’s proposal to ethnically cleanse the enclave and establish a “Riviera” of the Middle East.
“We appreciate the declared Arab and international positions rejecting the starvation policy practised by the [Israeli] occupation against our people in the Gaza Strip,” said Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman.
“We call on Egypt and the Arab system to take practical steps to prevent the [Israeli] occupation from continuing the starvation policy that paves the way for its plan to displace our people in the Gaza Strip and poses a threat to Arab national security,” he added.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu banned the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza in an effort to force Hamas to agree to extend the first phase of the ceasefire deal and release more Israeli captives without more concessions from Israel.
For its part, Hamas slammed Netanyahu’s decision, as “cheap blackmail” and a “war crime” and called on mediators to pressure the occupation state to end its “punitive and immoral measures”.
