The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, said on Monday in his first public message since the start of the war that this is a “fierce, violent and unprecedented battle” against Israel.
“The Al Qasam Brigades will destroy the occupying army, they are on their way to crush it and they will not submit to the conditions of occupation,” Sinwar said in a message broadcast on Hamas channels.
Sinwar, who Israel says is hiding in the enclave’s network of underground tunnels, said Israeli forces are “suffering heavy losses of lives and equipment.”
The al-Qasam Brigades, he said, attacked about 5,000 Israeli soldiers, “one-third of whom were killed, one-third seriously injured and the last third permanently disabled,” after also destroying 750 military vehicles.
Sinwar’s figures are very different from the Israeli army’s official count, which shows that 156 soldiers have been killed since the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip began on October 27, plus 333 during the Hamas attack on Israeli territory on October 7 . battles of the following days.
This is the Islamist leader’s first message since the start of the war, following the October 7 attack, of which he is believed to be the main mastermind, and which left more than 1,200 dead and 240 abducted.
Source: DN
