Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh said the Palestinian resistance movement has obtained “a security technology asset that is a real treasure” when it disrupted an Israeli intelligence operation in the Gaza Strip last month.
Speaking at a rally on Sunday, attended by tens of thousands of people to mark 31 years since Hamas’ formation, Haniyeh said that what Hamas captured during the botched operation exposed the Israeli military’s operating methods, which will have “implications in the war of minds” between the Zionist enemy and the Palestinian resistance.
Haniyeh promised that additional details would be disclosed at a news conference that Hamas’ military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, would be holding in the coming days.
An Israeli officer was killed and another soldier was moderately wounded during the botched operation last month. Seven Palestinian fighters were said to have been martyred during a gun battle that ensued with occupation forces. The clash was followed by a massive barrage of rocket fire into Israeli settlements bordering Gaza.
Haniyeh meanwhile, said that Al-Qassam knows exactly where the Israeli forces were entering and leaving the Gaza Strip, what was happening during the disrupted operation and how long the force had been in Gaza. He warned the IOF not to send any more troops into Gaza and that any soldiers that enter will be either executed or held prisoner.
Elsewhere in his speech, Haniyeh praised the Gazans for the mass rally, stressing that the mass of people there proves that the resistance is the choice of Palestinians.
He also vowed that the resistance movement would continue the struggle to release Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
Hailing the resistance in the West Bank, Haniyeh stressed that any attempt to make the West Bank the basis for Trump’s peace deal would fail. In this context, he called on the Palestinian Authority to halt its security cooperation with the Israeli enemy and not to gamble on trying to negotiate with it.
Haniyeh also voiced readiness to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at any time to advance the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah and to hold elections within three months.
Commenting on the Palestinian marches along the Gaza border, Haniyeh said the weekly rallies had conveyed three messages: That US President Donald Trump’s so-called peace plan would not be accepted; that the younger generation would continue the fight for the right of return; and that the blockade of Gaza was on the international agenda and the process of breaking it had begun.
Source: Israeli media
