Anwar Abuta, a senior leader of the movement, on Saturday night underlined the need for the immediate cessation of Israeli aerial and ground strikes against Gaza, describing the withdrawal of Israeli troopers as one of the required provisions for the start of negotiations on exchange of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli captives.

“The United States is not a mediator in the Gaza war, but rather an accomplice in the Zionists’ crimes,” Abuta emphasized.

He denounced as “unacceptable” any talks about the post-war situation in Gaza and governance issues, stressing that the Israeli assassination of senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri and a number of Resistance commanders In Lebanon brought mediations about a possible prisoner swap to a standstill.

“We welcome any initiative aimed at stopping the Israeli aggression against our nation. Complete cessation of Israeli attacks and pullout of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip are the prerequisites for any prisoner exchange negotiations to rekindle,” Abuta pointed out.

“The policy of assassinating Resistance commanders conclusively demonstrates the scale of the crisis that Israel is experiencing. The Resistance front, however, will be unfazed by such acts of terror, and targeted killings will not manage to prevent it from fulfilling its duties,” the Islamic Jihad leader said.

Al-Arouri was killed in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh on January 2.

Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Strip-based Palestinian Resistance groups of Hamas and Islamic Jihad carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.

According to the Gaza-based health ministry, at least 22,722 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, including 6,830 women and 9,730 children, and another 58,166 individuals injured.

Tel Aviv has also imposed a “complete siege” on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

More than three months into the offensive, the usurping Israeli regime has failed to achieve its objectives of "destroying Hamas" and finding Israeli captives.

The Palestinian operation shook the Israeli security establishment, leaving around 1,200 Israelis dead and some 240 others captive.

It is believed that 136 captives still remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 were released during a week-long truce in late November.