Top Hamas official: We have drawn up major defensive plan; over 50 Israeli armored vehicles destroyed

A senior Hamas official says the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement has worked out a major defensive plan in the face of the Israeli onslaught, stressing that the unison among resistance factions during Operation Al-Aqsa Storm left Israeli military commanders baffled.

“We are sure that we will emerge victorious out of this war. We assure our Palestinian compatriots that the resistance front has the necessary might to free all Palestinian prisoners,” Ali Baraka, head of Hamas National Relations Abroad, told Lebanon’s al-Ahed news website in the Lebanese capital city of Beirut on Tuesday.

He added that the Israeli military has failed to achieve any gains on the ground despite relentless air and ground strikes against the Gaza Strip.

Baraka noted that the occupying Tel Aviv regime launched the ground offensive into Gaza after Operation Al-Aqsa Storm caught its military and intelligence services completely off guard, yet failed dismally to attain any of its declared objectives, including the destruction of Hamas, release of Israeli captives, and permanent displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

Hamas: Israel ‘sinking deeper and deeper’ into swamp of Gaza

The top Hamas official says Israel is “sinking deeper and deeper into the swamp of Gaza”, stressing that the occupying regime failed to achieve a single victory after 60 days of war in the besieged enclave.

“The steadfastness of Palestinians and bravery of resistance fighters, who inflicted a lot of casualties on the enemy’s army, ruined Zionists’ plans. Additionally, the drastic change in the world public opinion exposed the true nature of the Zionist entity, and flat-out lies of [Israeli prime minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden,” the senior Hamas official said.

He underscored that the engagement of Israel on several fronts, especially in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, helped the Palestinian resistance front and threw the usurping regime into confusion.

“The army of the Zionist regime is now helpless and in a state of erosion in southern Lebanon, and against Yemeni Armed Forces who prevent the passage of Israeli ships through Bab el-Mandeb Strait,” Baraka said.

He stated that the combination of these factors forced Israel to agree to Palestinian resistance groups’ conditions and accept a temporary ceasefire that was extended several times. 

“The Israeli military has so far reaped nothing on the ground during the second round of its aggression. Resistance fighters have destroyed more than 50 armored military vehicles and killed a large number of Israeli soldiers,” he said.

The Hamas official underlined that Israeli settlers are pushing Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire and stop the war.

Israel ‘taken by surprise’ in Gaza battlefield, suffered heavy losses: Islamic Jihad

The Islamic Jihad resistance movement says Palestinian fighters have “taken Israel by surprise” in the Gaza battlefield by inflicting heavy losses on the occupying regime.

“All Zionists have realized that Netanyahu is prolonging this war for the sake of his personal interests. They insist that he must stand trial for the defeat suffered as a result of the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm once the military campaign in Gaza winds down. We are sure that we will win this war as resistance fights are bravely fighting off enemy forces, and still have many surprises for them,” he said.

The resistance front has the power to free all Palestinian prisoners, Baraka concluded.

Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupied territories in response to the regime’s intensified violence against Palestinians.

More than 16,000 Palestinians have been killed in the US-backed war, most of them women and children.

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