Hamas' armed wing says 'Al-Aqsa Flood was preemptive strike' against Israel

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas resistance group on Monday said the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on Oct. 7 last year was a "preemptive strike" against Israel.

"The strike of the (Palestinian) resistance (on Oct. 7) was preemptive as the (Israeli) occupation aggression reached a dangerous level," said Abu Ubaida, the Hamas military spokesman, in a televised speech on the first anniversary of the Hamas attack against Israeli army's sites and settlements around the Gaza Strip.

He stressed that Al-Qassam Brigades will continue to confront Israel "in a long, extended and painful war" as long as the Israeli aggression continues.

"A year has passed and we are still fighting in an asymmetrical battle a criminal enemy that doesn't hesitate to commit all crimes," Abu Ubaida added.

On the issue of the Israeli captives held in Gaza, he warned that if Israel continues to procrastinate the prisoner swap, the fate of the 100 Israeli captives in Gaza will be similar to that of Ron Arad.

Since 1986, Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force weapon systems officer, has been missing, and Israeli media reports suggest that the Lebanese Amal movement captured him and handed him over to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group during the years of conflict with Israel in southern Lebanon from 1985-2000.

However, in 2006, former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah denied knowledge of Arad's fate and said in a televised interview that he believed he was "dead and lost."

Israel estimates that over 100 hostages are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, some of whom are believed to have been already killed.

The Hamas military spokesman called for a wide "international solidarity with the Palestinian people and resistance," and also urged for "a massive cyberattack" against Israel.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 42,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 97,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar