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The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, “has footage of the Israeli commander being killed,” Hamas’s leader of the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar said while addressing a crowd during a ceremony honoring the seven martyrs of the brigades killed during a firefight on Sunday with Israeli forces.
Sinwar said Hamas was determined to break the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza and provide the Palestinian people with a prosperous life.
“We will not allow the siege to continue. The enemy has realized that our calm following the attacks targeting Gaza they have conducted since 2014 is not in vain,” Sinwar said.
Yahya Sinwar holds up a gun with a silencer.
“Our missiles are more precise, have a greater range and carry more explosives than in the past,” he added.
During the ceremony, Sinwar pulled out a handgun with a silencer, and claimed it belonged to one of the Israeli Special Forces troops that entered Gaza in a botched operation on Sunday.
Sinwar warned that if Israeli troops entered the Gaza Strip again, then would only be set free for a prisoner exchange of “thousands of prisoners.”
Failure by Israel's coalition leaders to reach agreement on cabinet positions has increased the likelihood of early elections, Israeli media reported on Friday.The reports came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with coalition partner Naftali Bennett, who is seeking to fill the soon-to-be vacant defense ministry post. But he is thought to be facing opposition from other partners in the right-wing government, the reports said.
Israeli media reports early elections likely in Israel
Seven Palestinians were martyred, including Hamas military commander Nour Baraka, when an Israeli force staged a raid in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. An Israeli soldier was killed and another injured in the raid.
Since Sunday, at least 14 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli airstrikes and artillery across the blockaded territory.
Tensions appeared to ease slightly late Tuesday after Israel and Gaza-based resistance factions agreed to an Egypt-brokered ceasefire.
Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.
The Israeli military is on high alert over its U.S.-funded “Iron Dome” air defense system, which shot to international fame, after it seems to have been overwhelmed by the intensity of Palestinian missiles.The anti-rocket system intercepted only 100 out of 460 missiles fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in last three days, according to reports.Over the course of the last three days, at least 14 Palestinians in have been martyred in Gaza -- by Israeli airstrikes and artillery -- across the blockaded Palestinian territory.On Sunday night, an Israeli officer was killed -- and another injured -- in a botched ground operation in Gaza.Tensions appeared to ease slightly late Tuesday after Israel and Gaza-based resistance factions agreed to an Egypt-brokered cease-fire.Israel’s Lieberman resigns as defense ministerPalestinians renew their missile systemLieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, told reporters Palestinians upgraded their rocket system and that Israel assumes Hamas used Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles during their last airstrike.Yeni Şafak daily’s Hamas sources have also confirmed that the missiles were upgraded but refused to divulge the details about the new system.Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday abruptly resigned from his post one day after a ceasefire was reached between Palestinian resistance factions and Israel.Scores of Israelis demonstrated outside the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Wednesday to demand Netanyahu’s resignation, accusing him of “betraying” the people of southern Israel.Israel’s Gaza war part of bin Salman plot to distract world from Khashoggi killing
Israel’s US-funded Iron Dome fails to down Hamas rockets