Hamas senior official: Netanyahu speech shows he doesn't want ceasefire deal

CAIRO (Reuters) - Hamas senior official Sami Abu Zuhri said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech addressing the U.S. Congress shows he does not want to conclude a ceasefire deal.

Netanyahu addressed the U.S. Congress in a record fourth speech by a foreign leader to a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives. He talked about the necessity of forging a security alliance in the Middle East to counter Iran.

"Netanyahu's speech was full of lies and it will not succeed in covering up for the failure and defeat in the face of the resistance to cover up for the crimes of the war of genocide his army is committing against the people of Gaza," Abu Zuhri said in an interview.

He added that any alliance with Israel from any party would be a "treason to the blood of martyrs."

Netanyahu also said that Israel does not seek to resettle Gaza and that after the war with Hamas militants the enclave should be led by Palestinians who do not seek to destroy Israel.

The Palestinian president's spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said in response: "The Palestinian people ... are the only ones who decide who rule them".

"Our permanent stance is that the only solution to achieve security and stability is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital," he added.

Hamas-led fighters triggered the war on Oct. 7 by storming into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 captives, according to Israeli tallies. Hamas and other militants are still holding 120 hostages; Israel believes around a third of them are dead.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Gaza health ministry.

(Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta; writing by Yomna Ehab; Editing by Leslie Adler and Rosalba O'Brien)