Gazan armed groups predict Israel ceasefire on their terms
An armed group in Gaza predicts that Israel will be forced to accept a ceasefire on the Palestinians' terms. With the Palestinian death toll over 112 on Tuesday morning, a leader of the Al-Nasser Salah ed-Din Brigades told RFI that all militias in the territory are cooperating to fight the Israeli offensive, now in its seventh day.
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The Al-Nasser Salah ed-Din Brigades is the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committee, many of whose members split from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah judging it too conciliatory towards Israel.
Audio report
It is one of several armed groups firing rockets at Israeli targets and was responsible for an attack on an Israeli military vehicle in the build-up to the current conflict, an act which it says was retaliation for a previous Israeli attack.
The deputy leader of the group, known as Abu Mohamed, outlined the group's demands for a ceasefire:
- An end to the siege of the Gaza Strip;
- An end to attacks on Gazan activists;
- An agreement that no tanks will enter Gaza;
- An end to attacks on Gazan fishermen, who are dependent on the coastline for survival.
He was keen to stress the level of cooperation between all armed groups currently operating in Gaza, including Hamas's armed wing, the Al Qassam brigades, and Islamic Jihad's Al Quds Brigades.
“This is not a football tournament. We are not many teams, we are one team," he said. "We agreed on our conditions for a ceasefire as a team, and we will stand by any group, be they Hamas or Islamic Jihad or whoever, who sees a ceasefire agreed on these terms.”
Abu Mohamed also underlined collective support from other groups for Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal saying that the Hamas leadership is understanding and responsive to the needs of those on the ground.
He also argued that, in contrast to the events of Operation Cast Lead in 2009, the armed threat to Israel will provide political leverage.
“Israel will be forced to accept these conditions because we are strong now, and the militant groups have surprised Israel with our power,” he claimed
Negotiations for a ceasefire are ongoing in Cairo, although an agreement still appears to be a long way off.
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