Palestinian Fighters Resume Attacks Amid Renewed Israeli Aggression
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The armed wing of Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, claims responsibility for rocket barrages hitting southern Israeli occupied cities, including Ashkelon, Sderot, and Beersheba.
Izzat al-Risheq from Hamas's political bureau asserts that Israel's ongoing aggression won't achieve what it failed to in the first 50 days of the war.
He emphasizes confronting Israeli "crimes" through Palestinian resilience and resistance against the renewed “Nazi aggression”.
The attack is cited as a response to Israel's targeting of civilians, as mentioned on the group's Telegram channel.
Hamas stated that Israel refused an offer to release more captives and the dead bodies of an Israeli family killed in Israeli air strikes. “We offered to hand over the bodies of the Bibas family, release their father so that he can participate in their burial, and hand over two Israeli detainees,” the resistance group said in a statement.
Israel refused “all these offers because it had [made] a prior decision to resume its criminal aggression against the Gaza Strip,” it added.
Additionally, the military branch of another Gaza-based armed group, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said it also targeted cities and towns close to the fence with Israel earlier in the day as the truce ended.
Earlear on Friday, Osama Hamdan, senior spokesperson for Hamas, highlighted the need to end the occupation, expressing gratitude for mediation efforts by Egypt and Qatar. He criticizes the cessation of aggression due to unspecified parties' lack of commitment, apart from Qatar and Egypt. He also noted the absence of significant pressure from the US administration on Israel.
The number of people killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since this morning has now risen to at least 61, according to officials in the enclave.
The toll includes at least 15 people killed in Israeli attacks on homes in the Shujayea neighbourhood.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he regrets that fighting has resumed in Gaza and hopes that a pause in fighting can be renewed.
“The return to hostilities only shows how important it is to have a true humanitarian ceasefire,” Guterres said in a post on X.
