The militant Palestinian organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip want to continue the fight against Israel. According to the organization, Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip, Jihia al-Sinwar, wrote in a letter to Hamas Politburo Chairman Ismail Haniya and other members of the body: “The Qassam Brigades (Hamas’ armed wing) are leading a fierce, brutal and unprecedented battle against the Israeli occupation forces.”
According to the Al-Jazeera news channel, Islamic Jihad also said it would continue fighting in response to the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar claimed that heavy losses of life and equipment had been inflicted on the Israeli army. The Qassam Brigades attacked at least 5,000 Israeli soldiers, killing a third, seriously injuring another third and permanently incapacitating another third. These figures clearly contradict the Israeli army’s figures, which report that more than 150 Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar also wrote that 750 Israeli military vehicles were completely or partially destroyed. This information also seems inflated. The Israeli army does not provide any information on this.
Hamas’s Gaza chief concluded by claiming that the Qassam Brigades had “crushed” Israeli troops and were in the process of crushing them. This representation also contradicts the situation. Sinwar wrote that the armed wing of Hamas would not submit to Israeli conditions.
Sinwar may have been responding to reports of an Egyptian proposal to end the Gaza war. Hanija was recently in Egypt with a delegation for talks. He is considered the foreign head of Hamas and lives in Qatar.
According to reports, the exiled Hamas political leadership is already holding talks behind the backs of the two Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, about how the Gaza Strip and the West Bank will be governed after the end of the war. Israel wants to specifically kill Sinwar and Deif, who are believed to be the masterminds of the terrorist attack on October 7th. They are believed to be hiding in the underground tunnel network in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Large parts of the Gaza Strip were destroyed during the Israeli offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 20,400 people were killed. About four out of five of the coastal strip’s 2.2 million residents were displaced from their homes during the war, according to UN figures. UN aid organizations paint a picture of destruction, despair, hunger, hardship and suffering.
The Israeli army says it has killed around 8,000 Hamas terrorists. This information cannot currently be independently verified. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday after visiting troops in the Gaza Strip that Israel would “deepen the fight in the coming days.” He spoke of a long fight against Hamas, the end of which is not imminent.
Since then, Israel has been carrying out massive attacks in the Palestinian territory with the stated aim of destroying Hamas. According to the latest figures from the Hamas Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 20,670 people have been killed so far.
