Hamas official says group has ‘high ability’ to continue Gaza war despite losses

Istanbul, Turkey – AFP

A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the movement had ample resources to continue fighting Israel despite losses sustained over more than 11 months of war in Gaza.

“The resistance has a high ability to continue,” Osama Hamdan told AFP during an interview in Istanbul.

“There were martyrs and there were sacrifices… but in return there was an accumulation of experiences and the recruitment of new generations into the resistance.”

His comments came less than a week after Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told journalists that Hamas “no longer exists” as a military formation in Gaza.

“The number of casualties… is much less than what is expected in a battle of this size, level and breadth,” Hamdan said on Sunday.

Israel has killed at least 41,206 people in Gaza since October last year after an attack by Hamas, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Hamdan said the United States, Israel’s most important military backer, was not doing enough to force concessions from Netanyahu that would end the bloodshed.

“The American administration does not exert sufficient or appropriate pressure on the Israeli side,” Hamdan said.

“Rather it is trying to justify the Israeli side’s evasion of any commitment.”

– Israel ‘not immune’ –

The war between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas has drawn in other Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, notably Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Houthis in Yemen.

On Sunday the Houthis claimed a missile attack on central Israel that, while producing no casualties, triggered a rush to shelters and added to regional tensions.

Hamdan said the attack showed the limits of Israel’s ability to defend itself, including its oft-touted aerial defence system.

“It is a message to the entire region that Israel is not an immune entity,” Hamdan said.

“Even Israeli capabilities have limits.”

Hamdan also reiterated Hamas’s view that an attack earlier this month in which a Jordanian truck driver shot dead three Israeli guards at a border crossing underscored widespread anger at Israel in the region.

As for Arab leaders who have normalised diplomatic ties with Israel or are considering doing so, Hamdan said they should ask themselves how they would feel if their countries were occupied and the world stood by and watched.

“If you see Israel as a blessing and a gain… give them a piece of your country,” he said, jokingly adding that it could be called “the new Israel”.

– ‘Day after’ planning –

Hamdan said it was impossible to imagine a scenario in which Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar would leave the besieged territory.

Sinwar and other leaders “are ready to be martyred thousands of times in Palestine rather than leaving it because everything he is doing is to free Palestine,” Hamdan said.

Hamas has demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, including the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow strip of land along Egypt’s border that has emerged as a key sticking point in the truce talks.

Hamdan said that Hamas wants “joint Palestinian rule” in Gaza, adding that Hamas officials and representatives of other Palestinian factions would meet soon in Cairo to discuss their post-war vision.

“The day after the battle is a Palestinian day,” he said.