Hamas says US is giving Israel more time in Gaza
Exiled Islamist group leader Abu Marzouk tells Hizbullah TV 'by not voting for UN truce resolution and by not vetoing it, US sending clear signal that it supports initiative but wants to give the enemy more time'
An exiled Hamas leader said on Friday the United States appeared to want to give Israel more time to persist with the Gaza offensive.
On Thursday the UN Security Council voted on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but the United States unexpectedly abstained in the vote, saying talks on a truce were still under way through Egyptian mediation.
"By not voting for the resolution and by not vetoing it, the United States is sending a clear signal that it supports the resolution but after a while," deputy political leader Moussa Abu Marzouk told Hizbullah's Al Manar television from Damascus.
"Therefore they want... to give the enemy more time. But I assure you that they will not achieve any of their goals and they will withdraw in disappointment and they will be defeated."
Israel on Friday rejected the UN resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire as "unworkable" and, noting fresh Palestinian rocket fire, said the army would go on defending Israelis.
Abu Marzouk echoed other Hamas officials' statements that it was "not concerned with the resolution" and had not been consulted on the draft, which also calls for measures to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza and for its border to be opened.
"This resolution was discussed in the hallways of the United Nations. The movement (Hamas) was not consulted on this resolution, our vision and the interests of our people were not taken into consideration," Abu Marzouk said.
"Therefore this resolution does not concern us unless someone comes to enforce it on the ground. When it is enforced on the ground, whatever party which tries to enforce it will have to deal with...(Hamas)."
Two weeks into the Israeli offensive on Gaza, Hamas says nearly 800 Palestinians have been killed, many of them women and children.
Ten soldiers have been killed in the land, sea and air campaign by Israel to halt the firing of Hamas rockets from Gaza into Israel. The rockets have killed three Israeli civilians since the offensive began.
