The military spokesperson for Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades announced on Thursday that the group’s Resistance fighters carried out 57 different operations over the past week, which saw the killing of 53 Zionist officers and soldiers from “point blank”, among other losses inflicted on the occupation forces, as fierce confrontations continue across Gaza axes.
In a written statement, Abu Obeida also revealed that al-Qassam sniped at 9 troops and that the total outcome of operations resulted in the death and injury of dozens of invading forces.
Regarding losses in hardware, he stated that the Resistance successfully destroyed completely or partially 68 Zionist military vehicles in Gaza during the same period.
Detailing significant operations, Abu Obeida confirmed that four houses and two tunnels were detonated with occupation forces inside. Moreover, a Zionist force was directly hit after walking into a minefield laid out by the Resistance.
Additionally, the spokesperson announced that the group’s fighters downed two Sky Lark spy UAVs and captured 8 others, including two suicide drones.
Despite the war closing in on its four-month mark, he pointed out that al-Qassam targeted military sites and settlements inside occupied territories.
The attacks were conducted using various weapons, including short-range rockets, mortars, anti-fortification explosives and shells, and machine guns, he noted.
Resistance groups in Gaza continue to confront IOF
The Palestinian Resistance continued to engage in heavy confrontations with the Zionist forces across Gaza, with the most intense battles taking place in Khan Younis.
Various Resistance groups released statements on Thursday detailing field operations against the occupation military.
Al-Qassam Brigades announced that it had carried out a joint operation with al-Mujahideen Brigades, targeting a gathering of occupation forces, northwest of Gaza City, using short-range 107 rockets.
On its part, al-Mujahideen released footage of the group’s fighters targeting a helicopter over Khan Younis with a surface-to-air missile.
Furthermore, the Resistance faction announced striking the “Netiv HaAsara” settlement with a rocket barrage.
Meanwhile, al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, announced that its fighters targeted an infantry unit northwest of Beit Hanoun with a guided 107 missile.
In a significant attack, the Brigades posted footage of the party’s missile unit targeting the “Palmachim” airbase near “Tel Aviv”.
Furthermore, al-Quds fighters also declared shelling occupation soldiers and vehicles stationed in the Sudanese area northwest of Gaza City with heavy-caliber mortar shells, Badr-1 rockets, and 107mm rockets.
The Brigades further announced shelling advancing units in the west and southwest of Khan Younis, as well as targeting a tank with a Thaqib explosive device in the vicinity of the Austrian neighborhood.
In a joint operation with the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades announced by al-Quds Brigades, the groups’ fighters targeted occupation supply lines along the eastern edge of central Gaza with various rocket barrages.
Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades in a separate statement revealed that the faction’s fighters targeted military vehicles and soldiers in the eastern areas of Jabalia with heavy-caliber mortar shells.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, on its part, announced that its fighters engaged in fierce battles against the occupation forces on the frontlines of the west of Khan Younis axis.
Ansarallah makes statement
The leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abul-Malik al-Houthi, lambasted the United States for its role in supplementing and supporting the ongoing Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip, during his weekly address to the Yemeni people and the Ummah at large on Thursday.
Sayyed al-Houthi underlined the essential role that Washington plays in extending the aggression on the Gaza Strip, holding the US administration accountable for piled-up humanitarian aid outside the Gaza Strip and the closure of the Rafah border crossing.
Moreover, the leader pointed to the ongoing US-UK-led aggression on Yemen, which the two Western nations claim aims to secure international maritime trade routes. Contrary to US-UK claims, Sayyed al-Houthi said that Washington “does not care about the threat to international navigation and the fact that it has turned the Red Sea into a battlefield, nor about the arrival of food and medicine to the people of Gaza.”
He added, “[The US] has no problem with expanding the conflict [and increasing tensions in the region].”
The US insists on sieging Gaza
In fact, the Resistance leader said the US “insists on keeping Gaza under total siege and keeping the Rafah crossing closed most of the time,” adding that Washington “insists that there be no flow of [humanitarian aid] to the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
It is worth noting that Sayyed al-Houthi’s statements coincide with a months-long effective Naval campaign launched by the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), aiming at pressuring the occupation to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip and allow humanitarian aid in. The Biden administration in Washington has opted to support the occupation’s genocidal war on Palestinians and launched at least eight strikes on Yemen.
In this context, Sayyed al-Houthi said, “While the Americans fight for the supplies to reach the ‘Israelis,’ they prevent food and medicine from reaching Gaza,” pointing out that “[Washignton] is the one behind the continuation of Zionist crimes and behind [the incompetence of international organizations].”
The US “contributes directly to starving the Palestinian people, causing them to die of hunger, not only with the bombs [it provides the occupation forces with] to kill them.”
Yemen’s battle is intrinsically tied to Gaza
The leader of the Ansar Allah movement said the Yemeni Armed Forces launched more than 200 attack drones and fifty cruise and ballistic missiles in support of the Palestinian people.
He stressed that Yemen would continue to launch operations in support of the Palestinian people “until food and medicine reach all residents of Gaza and the Zionist crimes” in the Gaza Strip stop.
Sayyed al-Houthi stressed that the US’ military aggression and its insistence to reject a humanitarian deal “will not affect our position,” stressing that the Yemeni people “will never retreat.”
“Our battle is ongoing and is entirely linked to the Gaza battle.”
Yemen’s operations: No threat to international navigation
He also indicated that the US is attempting to “justify its aggression against our country and its protection of Zionist crimes,” under the pretext of protecting international navigation.
In response to these claims, Sayyed al-Houthi said that since the beginning of the Yemeni Naval campaign, “4,874 commercial ships have crossed,” through the Red Sea, untouched, adding that the US-UK-led escalation “is [the real] threat to international navigation” and has violated “the sovereignty of countries” in the region.
He went on to advise Europeans against allowing the US to exploit their govenrments’ funds for such purposes.
He explained that “no matter how much the Americans and the British escalate,” the results of this escalation will “be counterproductive and will not affect our decision and position, but we will continue to develop our military capabilities.”
“Whenever the ‘Israelis’ and the Americans insist on [committing war crimes in Gaza], we must be more resolved and determined to prevent it.”
A historic battle
The leader of the Ansar Allah movement highlighted that in the history of the Arab struggle against the Israeli occupation, there has never been an aggression similar to that on Gaza today, both in terms of the war’s period and the level of criminality committed.
On that note, Sayyed al-Houthi pointed out that the number of casualties in Gaza is now calculated as a percentage of its population. “This is unparalleled today in all conflicts around the world,” he stressed.
In fact, more than 1 in 100 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed by the occupation since October 7, while more than 1 in 20 Gazans have either been killed, injured, or gone missing in the same period.
Despite the unprecedented level of Zionist brutality, the situation today has differed, he added. “Thanks to the resilience and steadfastness of the Resistance and the people of Gaza,” the equation has changed. The leader added that suffering is mutual and is not limited to Palestinians as in previous periods in the fight against the occupation.
“Despite the scale of the Zionist aggression, crime, tyranny, and incursion, the enemy has failed to achieve its declared goals,” Sayyed al-Houthi emphasized.
A shared global responsibility to support Gaza
Elsewhere in his address, Ansar Allah’s leader reiterated that Muslims bear a great responsibility to “support the resilience of the Palestinian people in the face of extremely difficult conditions, severe suffering, and great oppression.”
He underlined that “if Muslims provide the necessary support to the Palestinian people and its Resistance fighters, the equation will change completely,” pointing out that “the criminal path of the ‘Israeli’ enemy continues every day, expressing an aggressive tendency, hatred, brutality, and moral bankruptcy.”
“Whenever the enemy fails to achieve its declared goals, it resorts to committing horrendous crimes,” he added, asking, “All international institutions are witnessing what is happening in Palestine, in Gaza, but where is the practical stance?”
“The statements issued by international institutions do not match up to the real situation Gaza is facing,” he added.
Regarding the international public stance on the Zionist war, he emphasized the need for the demonstrations in Western countries to continue, namely in Europe and the United States.
However, he said that “there must be broader and escalating actions to pressure the heinous and brutal crime against the Palestinian people to stop.”
“Mass popular movement has great importance in demanding an end to the aggression on Gaza and ending the crime against the Palestinian people,” Sayyed al-Houthi said, noting that “people suffering severe oppression from their regimes can boycott American and ‘Israeli’ goods.”
Reaffirming Yemen’s unwavering position to support Gaza, respond to Zionist crimes, and face the occupation’s supporters no matter the challenges, he stressed that Gaza will not be left to its fate.
“Our people will not leave Gaza alone, and Yemenis will not stay at home ignoring what is happening, but the popular mobilization will continue,” he declared, calling for “massive demonstrations on Friday in the capital Sanaa and across other provinces.”