Palestinians’ Defensive Plans More Powerful Than Their Offensive Program: Hamas

Some important parts of statements made by Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas Saleh al-Arouri in an interview with Al Jazeera are as follows:

We received some information that the Israelis were preparing to attack us (the Gaza Strip) after the Jewish holidays. We launched a preemptive strike on Israeli military forces near Gaza, and the enemy forces quickly collapsed.

The attack by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades was a well-organized and coordinated operation that targeted the Israeli regime’s Gaza battalion. Some 1,200 Qassam fighters entered the Israeli settlements around the Gaza Strip and quickly took control of the positions of the regime’s Gaza battalion. When the unit collapsed, non-combatant Palestinians also entered the occupied territories from the Gaza Strip and clashed with Israeli settlers, resulting in some casualties. The Palestinians were also able to enter some Zionist settlements and take civilians hostage, but this move has never been part of our operational plan nor is it part of our ideology.

The instructions of the al-Qassam Brigades’ commanders to their forces in respect of the prohibition of killing women and children were transparent.

We have had plans and programs in response to any action by the Israeli enemy. Our defensive plans were prepared before the start of the attack, and our defensive plans are much stronger than our offensive plans, and the Israeli enemy is well aware of the fact.

We fight so that the world recognizes the right to life of our people like other nations. We count on the people of our country and wait for them to get involved in the fight and support us.