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By Frances Martel
The “al-Qassam Brigades” of Hamas announced on Wednesday that it would unleash a “flood of martyrdom operations,” or suicide attacks, against Israel – a declaration that would appear to harm the chances that Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s ongoing trip to Egypt will result in a sustainable ceasefire between the jihadists and Israel.
Blinken departed for Egypt on Tuesday and spent much of Wednesday in discussions with strongman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. While the bulk of those conversations. Abdelatty told reporters, was focused on increasing trade, tourism, and academic ties between Cairo and Washington, working toward a “bridging proposal” to a ceasefire in Hamas-controlled Gaza was also on the agenda.
Blinken has spent much of the past year attempting to negotiate, on behalf of leftist American President Joe Biden, an end to Israel’s self-defense operations against Hamas in Gaza, which it has controlled for nearly two decades. All attempts as of press time have failed, as the Biden administration has failed to convince Israeli officials to allow Hamas to survive and continue to threaten the nation following its harrowing October 7 invasion of the country and massacre of an estimated 1,200 civilians.
The last attempt to convince Israel and Hamas to abide by a “bridging proposal” failed in August after Blinken insisted, without explaining why, that it was the “last opportunity” for such an agreement. A signed deal would have coincided then with the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, granting Biden’s party a diplomatic victory to tout during the campaign event.
Now, as Blinken discusses a new potential ceasefire deal with top mediator Egypt, Hamas’s jihadists have issued a call to plague the region with suicide bombings in an attempt to stop Israel’s self-defense operations.
In a video featuring various explosions in Gaza, a Hamas terrorist standing in what appears to be the southern Gaza city of Rafah threatens a dramatic escalation in deadly terrorism. The terrorist appears in front of a bulldozer, which he then attempts to set on fire.
“You have ignited a fire that will never be extinguished until we repel you away from our home and our land … We have prepared for you certain death,” the terrorists declare, according to a translation by the Iranian propaganda outlet PressTV. “The fire you ignited will burn you and be a curse upon you, your settlers, and your army.”
Iran is the world’s premier state sponsor of terrorism and a critical financier for Hamas, reportedly spending $100 million a year on funding Hamas and similar Palestinian terrorist groups.
“And we, in the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, tell the oppressive enemy that the river of blood flowing on the land of the Gaza … will be met with a flood of martyrdom operations that will turn its situation upside down in its own house,” the terrorists proclaim in the video. “It is indeed a battle of victory or martyrdom.”
“There will be nothing in return for the blood but blood,” Hamas warned.
The Jordanian outlet Roya news described the intent of the video as announcing of “the return of martyrdom operations,” meaning suicide attacks
Hamas had already begun hinting of a return to large-scale suicide operations in August, following the failure of Blinken’s “bridging proposal.”
“Today, in the West Bank, within the 1948 borders, and in the diaspora, the escalation of this conflict is required,” Khaled Mashal, the terrorist leader in charge of the Hamas “diaspora office,” declared in a speech in Turkey that month. “Today, in the West Bank, we have seen some successful early signs of martyrdom operations. We want to go back to the martyrdom operations. This necessitates an all-out conflict.”
“We should unleash all forms of resistance, and first and foremost, the martyrdom operations,” Mashal repeated. “We should engage in these operations. We should have an all-out confrontation.”
The Biden administration has largely disregarded Hamas’s calls to violence and insisted that dialogue and negotiations between Israel and the genocidal terrorist group is the only path to an end to the conflict. Blinken repeatedly insisted that both sides should muster the “political will” to strike a deal during remarks in Egypt in Wednesday.
“We all know that a ceasefire is the best chance to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to address the risks to regional stability,” Blinken told reporters during a press conference alongside Cairo’s top diplomat. “We’re focused on getting this ceasefire over the finish line … it’s imperative that everyone avoid taking steps that could further escalate or spread the conflict.”
Blinken insisted that the peace deal he is working on, alongside the Egyptians and government of Qatar, was making significant progress, a day after State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that it was not ready to be presented to Israel.
“We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress over the last month, month and a half,” Blinken claimed. “There are, I think, in the agreement, 18 paragraphs; 15 of them are agreed. But the remaining issues need to be resolved.”
“The resolution is less a question of substance and more a question of political will. And for both parties, it’s important to demonstrate that political will to get this agreement concluded,” Blinken said.
Apparently disregarding the existence of 18 paragraphs of a proposed deal, the government of Israel offered its own agreement to Hamas on Thursday, a framework in which Hamas releases all the remaining October 7 hostages – believed to number 101 people – in exchange for Israel not killing Hamas’s leaders.
“The proposed plan would see the release of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel, the demilitarization of the Strip, and a new system of governance for Gaza, the report says. No further details are given,” the Times of Israel reported.
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