The Islamic Jihad's secretary general says the movement has made "a great achievement" in the face of Israel, lauding Palestinian people’s resistance against the regime's aggression.
Ziad al-Nakhala made the remarks on Sunday after the movement agreed to a truce with Israel following three days of strikes on the Gaza Strip by the Israeli forces.
On Friday, the regime carried out a massacre against the Gaza City, killing dozens of people, including Taysir al-Jabari, a senior Islamic Jihad commander, and six children. The offensive prompted the al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad’s military wing, to respond by firing hundreds of rockets towards the occupied territories.
“Fifty-eight Zionist-populated settlements were simultaneously brought under the al-Quds Brigades’ rocket fire,” Nakhala said during a press conference in Tehran.
“The occupiers failed to impose any of their conditions on us,” he added. The Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, conditioned the truce on the release of two of its prisoners, who have been detained by the Israeli regime, he added.
The pair have been named as Bassem al-Saadi, a senior figure in the group's political wing who was recently arrested in the occupied West Bank, and Khalil Awawdeh.
“The Palestinian nation, especially the al-Quds Brigades, managed to obtain a great achievement in the face of the Zionist enemy,” Nakhala noted, adding, “I salute the Palestinian nation and its steadfastness.”
The Islamic Jihad came to existence to defend the unity of the Palestinian nation, the official stated.
“I present this victory to all the peoples, which stood by the Palestinian nation,” Nakhala said.
Despite agreeing to the truce, the movement has said it "reserves the right to respond to any [recurrent] Zionist aggression."