Hamas will 'expel' Israel 'at the earliest time possible'

(JNS) — Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya repeated the terrorist organization’s commitment to the destruction of Israel in his first public remarks since green-lighting the truce deal with the Jewish state on Wednesday night, Jan. 15.

According to al-Hayya, the terrorist group during negotiations succeeded in thwarting Israel’s “declared and hidden goals.”

“Today, we prove that the occupation will never defeat our people and their resistance,” he said in a televised address from Doha which ran for some 18 minutes.

Jerusalem “only secured its captives through an agreement with the resistance to stop the war and aggression, along with an honorable prisoner exchange deal,” al-Hayya claimed.

Al-Hayya described the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 people in Israel as a “miraculous” achievement, declaring the atrocities would “remain a source of pride” for Palestinians, “passed down through generations.”

The terrorist attack “struck the heart of the enemy and will lead, Inshallah [‘God willing’], to the restoration of all our rights,” the Hamas leader said.

Hamas terrorists “will expel the occupation from our land and from Al Quds [Jerusalem] at the earliest time possible,” al-Hayya promised, adding: “Our enemy will never see a moment of weakness from us.”

Al-Hayya mourned slain Hamas chiefs Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, Saleh al-Arouri, “the martyred leaders whose bodies were torn apart in this battle,” and extended his gratitude to the Palestinian terrorist groups that fought alongside it during the war.

“We also recall the illuminating stances of many countries that stood with us across various fields,” said the terrorist leader, praising the support from Turkey, South Africa, Algeria, Russia, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Belgium, Spain and Ireland, “as well as the free people of the world.”

“We also remember the efforts of the brothers in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who supported our resistance and our people, engaged in the battle, and struck at the heart of the entity in the two operations,” he said, referring to Tehran’s April 1 and Oct. 1 missile assaults on the Jewish state.

“We thank everyone who supported us with words, pens, voices, images, marches, demonstrations, the weapon of boycotts, political and diplomatic efforts, legal action and by raising their voices against aggression and oppression,” he added.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had approved the ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

“This epic ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our historic victory in November, as it signaled to the entire world that my administration would seek peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans and our allies,” Trump stated in a post on Truth Social.

Al Jazeera reported that Hamas delegations, on the orders of al-Hayya, had delivered the group’s formal approval to mediators in Qatar and Egypt.

As news of the impending ceasefire broke, mass celebrations broke out across Gaza, Judea and Samaria, according to reports in local media.

Armed Hamas terrorists emerged from tunnels to celebrate, RT reported. The Russian state outlet published footage of a Hamas terrorist who vowed to “remain on the ground” following the ceasefire agreement.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second-largest terrorist group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas, hailed the deal as “honorable.”

“Today, our people and their resistance imposed an honorable agreement to stop the aggression,” PIJ stated on Wednesday, vowing to “remain vigilant to ensure the full implementation of this agreement.”

Posting to social media in Hebrew, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the Tehran-backed “resistance” had succeeded in forcing the Jewish state to “retreat,” adding: “It will be written in books that there was a mob who once killed thousands of children & women in Gaza.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps likewise hailed the deal as “a clear victory and a great victory for Palestine and a bigger defeat for the monstrous Zionist regime.”

A total of 33 hostages, out of the 98 held by Hamas in Gaza, are set to be released during the first phase of the deal. The agreement reportedly specifies that nine sick and injured captives will be exchanged for 110 Palestinian terrorists serving life sentences in Israeli prisons.

In addition, the Israel Defense Forces is to reduce its military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border during the first stage of the deal. The IDF would begin to withdraw from the corridor on the 42nd day of the first phase, after the release of the final hostage for the phase and complete the withdrawal by the 50th day.