Hamas says Israel failed to achieve any of its goals in Gaza on war anniversary

The Palestinian movement Hamas has said on Tuesday that Israel has failed to achieve any of its objectives in its genocidal war on Gaza and that it was becoming increasingly isolated on the world stage due to the abuses it was carrying out in the besieged enclave.

Senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum said in a televised speech that despite laying waste to much of the enclave, Israel had failed in its attempts to expel Palestinians to other countries and that Israel's repeated attacks across the wider Middle East had exposed itself as a threat to the region.

"[The ongoing genocide] has resulted in the occupation facing unprecedented isolation and triggered [activists and] movements to stand with our people and recognise their independent state," he said.

Barhoum's comments came on the second anniversary of the start of the war, and a day after Hamas mediators arrived in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to start indirect talks about ending the genocide.

In his speech, Barhoum said the negotiators were "seeking to remove all obstacles to achieve an agreement that meets the aspirations of our people".

"We seek a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation army from the Gaza Strip, and the guarantee of the return of the displaced," he said.

"We have dealt with all ceasefire proposals over the past two years with great responsibility, the most recent being President Donald Trump's proposal," Barhoum added, before warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against attempting to derail the negotiations, as he had done in the past.

Last week, Trump unveiled his controversial 20-point plan, which gives general precedence to Israel's framing of the situation in Gaza and its stated security concerns.

Trump's 'red lines'

Point one of the plan says "Gaza will be a deradicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours".

The proposal, which has been widely criticised as "colonial thinking", also says that disgraced former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will serve alongside Trump on a transitional committee overseeing the strip.

US officials have suggested they want to initially focus talks on a halt to the fighting and the logistics of how the hostages and political prisoners would be released.

But Qatar, one of the mediators, has said many details still need to be worked out, indicating an imminent agreement was unlikely.

Still, speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said "we have a really good chance of making a deal", while also noting that he still has his own "red lines".

"But I think we're doing very well. And I think Hamas has been agreeing to things that are very important," Trump added.

In the absence of a ceasefire, Israel has pressed on with its genocide in Gaza, killing at least eight Palestinians on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said the healthcare system was at breaking point, and pointed the blame directly at Israeli authorities for the worsening situation.

"What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not a humanitarian crisis, or merely a passing description of the Israeli occupation's long record of crimes," the ministry said in a statement.

"Rather, it is a complete and deliberate collapse of the foundation of human existence, represented by the health services system," the statement added.

Since the war erupted, more than 238,000 Palestinians have either been killed, wounded or are missing - with much of Gaza’s infrastructure - including homes, schools, universities, mosques, churches, public spaces, and health centres - reduced to rubble.

Recent reports, based on Israeli military intelligence data, indicate that more than 80 percent of those killed in the enclave through to May of this year were civilians.