TEHRAN - Hamas has said that the Gaza Strip belongs to the Palestinians and will "only be ruled by its people" while expressing disappointment at the Riyadh Summit as alarm bells ring over Gaza's largest hospital. 

There has been speculation in the West about the future of the Gaza Strip and who will take control over the besieged territory once the war is over. 

The Israeli prime minister's office has hinted that the regime's occupation will expand to the Gaza Strip when the war on Gaza ends. 

Last week, Netanyahu told ABC News that the Israeli regime will "for an indefinite period" have security responsibility of the enclave. 

In essence, this is a Zionist prelude to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians for the umpteenth time since 1948. 

The United States has alluded to the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank to take the responsibility. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tokyo on Wednesday that there may be a need for "some transition period" at the end of the Israeli war. 

"Gaza should be unified with the (occupied) West Bank under the Palestinian Authority" he added. 

Speaking at a press conference, the Hamas political leader, Osama Hamdan, stressed that "Gaza will only be governed by its people," and "our blood and our lives will be the price for our freedom."

Experts believe that the people of Gaza have suffered from Israeli savagery on a number of occasions over the past decades and their ongoing support for the resistance against Israeli wars gives them an undeniable right to determine their future governance. 
The Hamas party was elected to power by the Palestinian people in Gaza in free and fair elections. 

Hamdan also addressed the final statement of the Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh, expressing the group's disappointment at the outcome of the meeting. 

“We expected our Arab and Muslim brothers to activate their strengths during the Riyadh Summit to stop the suffering of the people of Gaza.”
The summit’s final draft statement stressed the necessity of breaking the siege on the Gaza Strip and allowing immediate entry of humanitarian aid, including food, medicine, and fuel.
The joint extraordinary summit was held to discuss the dangerous and unprecedented developments in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Hamdan stressed that “confronting the Zionist entity is a global humanitarian mission,” while thanking all the people who came out to demonstrate in support of Gaza. 
Turning to the Israeli ground offensive, the Hamas official highlighted that "the occupation army is receiving painful strikes around the clock on every square meter in the streets of Gaza," noting that "the occupation troops who are not killed in the field will suffocate in a Merkava tank from Al-Yassin 105 shells."

The Israeli regime says two more of its troops have been killed fighting in Gaza, adding to the dozens of fatalities that the Palestinian resistance has inflicted on invading ground forces. 

The Israeli military named the troops, a commando brigade officer and a staff sergeant. 
The Israeli military also acknowledged casualties among members of its Oketz canine unit. 

Hamdan added, “Israel has not and will not succeed in getting out of the cycle of defeat on October 7, which provided a historic opportunity, at a regional level, as opposed to sitting and waiting for Palestinians to be slaughtered."

A few days ago, Hamdan told regional media outlets that "there will either be a complete exchange of prisoners, or a ceasefire will coincide with the release of dual nationals.”

He also pointed out that the occupation tried to hide the massacre it committed at the al-Ahli Baptist hospital, but today, "Zionist warplanes are bombing all hospitals".  
Reports have emerged that Hamas has suspended hostage negotiations because of Israeli attacks on Gaza's largest hospital. 

A Palestinian official briefed on the hostage talks told Reuters that the Israeli attack on al-Shifa hospital led to the suspension of the talks. 
A spokesman for the Gaza health ministry in Gaza says an Israeli tank has reached the gate of the hospital.

"The tank is outside the gate of the outpatient clinic department, this is how the situation looks this morning," Ashraf al Qidra said. 

Israeli media, citing three anonymous sources, reported there was progress toward a deal, which would have seen several brief pauses of the Israeli bombardment to clear the way for 50 to 100 women, children and elderly to be released. 

For days now, the hospital has come under intense fire as Israeli forces close in on the facility. Israel accuses Hamas fighters of being in the facility without providing any evidence. 

Hamas has denied the accusations as fake propaganda. The group has said it is not associated with the hospital in any way, and the center is under the authority of the Palestinian health ministry.

If anything, analysts have noted that the armed wing of Hamas has a duty to make its way to the hospital and defend the patients and innocent Palestinians taking shelter from Israeli war crimes at the medical center. 

Images shared by news agencies show newborn babies placed in a bed after being taken off incubators at al-Shifa hospital. There were 39 babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.

A power outage has rendered the incubators unusable, and Palestinian officials say at least three babies have died so far as a result. 

The hospital is in a "perilous" situation and "not functioning as a hospital any more", the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned. 

"The constant gunfire and bombings in the area have exacerbated the already critical circumstances," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on social media.  "Tragically, the number of patient fatalities has increased significantly."

He said the hospital has been without electricity or water for three days, as well as "very poor internet which has severely impacted our ability to provide essential care". 

"Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore. The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair," he added. 

Netanyahu says the regime will not stop its attacks on al-Shifa hospital, despite multiple reports of families being shot at as they attempt to flee the facility.

Reports also say the intensive care unit had been bombarded, while dead and injured people were still lying on the ground at the hospital entrance. 

In an interview with U.S. media, Netanyahu was asked how Israel, which claims Hamas fighters are in the hospital, would ensure injured patients would not be caught up in the Israeli attacks. 

“Well, we’ve called to evacuate all the patients from that hospital," he said, without elaborating on how Palestinians should evacuate critically ill patients.  

Pressed on the issue again, the Israeli PM replied, "We’re telling them to leave". 

Experts say it is very obvious that the occupying regime has no interest in the very genuine and serious attempts by Hamas to release hostages. 

These are Hamas attempts to release non-combatant hostages on humanitarian grounds in exchange for nothing in return. 

It has become clear that the Israeli war is aimed at indiscriminately bombing the civilian population of Gaza (in what the West intentionally refers to as collateral damage) to appease its settler population, as some form of revenge for the Hamas retaliatory operation on October 7.