Speaking to foreign news agencies, Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri says group expects fighting with Israel to continue after major operation.
According to the latest figures by Addameer, a prisoners’ rights NGO, nearly 5,200 Palestinians are in Israeli jails, including 33 women, 170 minors and more than 1,200 placed under administrative detention. The Israeli army has acknowledged soldiers and commanders have been killed and prisoners of war have been taken. It has not given any figures. The surprise operation from Gaza came on the heels of the killing of four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, widespread Israeli settler attacks, especially in Huwara, near Nablus and increased tensions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
“This is not a [hit-and-run] operation; we started an all-out battle. We expect fighting to continue and the fighting front to expand. We have one prime target: our freedom and the freedom of our holy sites,” he told news reporters Al-Arouri said Palestinians have a right to freedom, to fight the Israeli occupation and to safeguard their holy sites.“We will continue to fight until we are rewarded with victory, freedom and independence,” he said.As observers noted that a land invasion by Israel could be imminent, Hamas said it is ready for “the worst-case scenario”.“ All scenarios are now possible and we are ready for an [Israeli] land invasion,” he added.Al-Arouri also said that Israel had been planning to launch a earlier, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is “at war”, while Palestinian officials say ending the Israeli occupation of their territory is the only guarantee for “security, stability and peace” in the region.The US, meanwhile, said it will work to ensure Israel “has what it needs to defend itself” and the UK, EU and Ukraine have condemned Hamas’s operation in Israel.Israel’s nightmare scenario – armed Palestinian militants at large in the south of the country – began early on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath and festival of Simchat Torah.. Gunmen cut through the Gaza perimeter fence, storming into Israel on motorbikes, paragliders and by sea. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman said they numbered in the high hundreds, while more than 3,000 rockets were fired across Israel across the day.”They attacked dozens of Israeli communities and IDF bases and went door to door, house to house,” said Lt Col Jonathan Conricus.”They executed Israeli civilians in cold blood in their homes and then continued to drag into Gaza Israeli civilians and military personnel. I’m talking women, children, elderly, disabled.”Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif called on Palestinians everywhere to join the group’s operation.”We have decided to put an end to these Israeli offences with God’s help, so the enemy understands that the time of wreaking havoc without being held accountable is over,” he said.
