As the Israel-Hamas escalation enters its second month, Washington has begun discussing with Israeli and Arab leaders a future for the Gaza Strip without Hamas rule, Reuters reports.
Khalil al-Hayya, a member of Hamas’ leadership, told the New York Times that the group’s assault on Israel was intended to shatter the status quo and open a new chapter in its fight against Israel.
“We succeeded in putting the Palestinian issue back on the table, and now no one in the region is experiencing calm,” he said, according to the newspaper on Wednesday.
Saleh al-Arouri, an exiled Hamas commander, told Al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday that its fighters are determined to inflict losses on Israeli forces in ground battles in Gaza. “The more (Israel) spreads and expands on the ground, the deeper its losses will become”, he said.
A clip from the Hamas video released on Wednesday showed fighters in Gaza running past piles of debris and stopping to fire shoulder-propelled missiles at Israeli tanks. Another showed them shooting rifles from perches behind buildings and dumpsters. Reuters was not able to authenticate the footage.
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