The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed that they had completely or partially destroyed 20 Israeli military vehicles in the span of 48 hours. This was announced by their official spokesperson, Abu Ubaida, in a video broadcasted by Al Jazeera on Monday.
Abu Ubaida said that the Israeli forces would face the resistance of the mujahideen in every step they took. He also said that the Israeli leaders’ hopes of eliminating their resistance were futile and that they were trying to escape a humiliating defeat.
He revealed that Qatari mediation efforts had led to an agreement to release Israeli prisoners in exchange for 200 Palestinian children and 75 women. He said: “The enemy asked for the release of 100 women and children from its prisoners in Gaza, and the mediators told us that we could include the release of 50 women and children in Gaza in a 5-day truce.”
He explained that the truce to release some of the detainees in Gaza involved a ceasefire and allowing aid to enter the Strip, but he accused the Israeli side of stalling.
The Al-Qassam Brigades also announced that they had launched a barrage of missiles at Tel Aviv in response to the ongoing Israeli massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip. Israeli TV Channel 13 reported that 20 rockets were fired from Gaza towards the coastal cities and Tel Aviv. Israeli TV Channel 12 said that five of these rockets were intercepted.
The Jerusalem Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, also said that they had targeted the Israeli vehicles that had entered the land of Abu Oreiban, south of the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood, with 107 missiles. They also said that they had shelled the Israeli forces that had entered the area near the textile factory and the equestrian club in the northwest of Gaza with mortars.
