Year after Gaza war, Hamas says ready to fight Israel again
Armed wing says ready with all manpower to 'confront Zionists', but won't say what capabilities it has.
By Reuters Tags: Hamas Israel news Gaza Gaza warOne year after Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip, the spokesman for Hamas' armed wing said this week that the Islamist group would not shirk away from a new battle with Israel.
"We do not wish for war. We wish for calm and peace for our people," Abu Ubaida, Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades spokesman told Reuters.
"But if any battle is imposed on us, we are ready with all our manpower and equipment to confront any Zionist war, any crime and any attack regardless of scale," he added.
Israel has said the brigades, which some observers estimate have 25,000 fighters, have been seeking with Syrian and Iranian help to upgrade their rocket capabilities and put the Israeli heartland and the commercial capital of Tel Aviv within range.
Abu Ubaida said Hamas had no choice but to improve its arsenal.
"The enemy is developing its weapons and is using internationally banned weapons against us," he said, without giving details.
"Therefore, we have the right to use any weapon that we deem suitable and we have the right to get into [Gaza] any weapon that we see as appropriate in the ongoing battle with the occupation," Abu Ubaida said, using Hamas' term for Israel.
He declined to elaborate on Hamas' weaponry. Observers close to the group said Hamas, which rules Gaza, was also developing more effective anti-tank weapons and training to improve battlefield tactics.
"The nature of our battle with the enemy requires that we do not announce the nature of our capabilities and the weapons we possess until we use them to confront any upcoming aggression against the Gaza Strip," he said.
Abu Ubaida urged Egypt to stop building a steel wall along its border with the Gaza Strip.
He declined to comment on weapons-smuggling via a network of tunnels through which commercial goods are also brought into the territory, which is under an Israeli-led blockade.
Israel tightened its Gaza border restrictions after Hamas seized the enclave from Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. Hamas has spurned Western demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals.
Calm has largely returned to the Israel-Gaza frontier since Israel's three-week offensive last year, an operation it said it launched to end cross-border rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.
Abu Ubaida said the Gaza war, in which 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed, had stirred thousands of Gaza residents to volunteer to join the ranks of the Qassam brigades.
Israel and Hamas are currently negotiating, through a German mediator, a deal under which Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return for an Israeli soldier captured in 2006 by Gaza militants who tunnelled across the border.
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I realize mere words Hamas has less than a hundred 100 soldiers ready to fight Israel it uses utilizes instead Europe especialy Swedish English suppoort for leverage refuses to exchange Schalit thus runs the risk of Israeli reprisals but that is Arab mentality always linked to Swedish mentality RIGHT ??? Thank You... M. S.
It's not hard to figure, Jasper, and you don't have to be a leftist or a Likudnik. The Egyptian wall is being built by Egyptians on Egyptian territory. The Israeli wall is being built by Israelis on Palestinian territory. It is another Israeli attempt to grab more Palestinian land. The wall would be just as effective on Israeli territory.
"First, there is no true blockade." Should we all laugh, or shake our heads in shame that a fellow human being denies one of the most serious crimes against humanity taking place in the world today? Israel controls sea and air space and all points of entry and egress to Gaza. Israel claims it permits an average of 80 truckloads a day of international aid to enter gaza. That in itself is almost an admission of genocide. According to the UN World Food Program, Gaza with a population of 1.4 million, requires daily 400 trucks of just food to meet basic nutritional needs. Israel also forbids entry of building materials, electrical appliances,spare parts for cars and machines, fabrics,threads, needles, candles, matches, mattresses, sheets, blankets, cutlery, crockery, cups, glasses, musical instruments, books, tea, coffee, sausages,and shoes. Article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention discusses collective civilian punishment, and violation of the article is considered a war crime.
You have the audacity to call others hypocrites and phonies. Yet, you have claimed the US, Japan and the EU are funding Palestinian terrorists groups: the US is training killers in the West Bank, and a Palestinian policeman started Intifada II. You have been proved a liar. And here, you prove it again. Have you no shame? You claim the Hamas statement didn't use word "peace." The statement says, "we do not wish war. We wish for calm and 'PEACE' for our people." It says, "if any battle is imposed on us, we are ready." It also says "the enemy is using internationally banned weapons against us." He means white phosphorous. A valid charge! The statement says, "therefore we have the right to use any weapon we deem suitable...in ongoing battle with the OCCUPATION." This a defensive statement. They have not been charged with a war crime. Israel has. The blockade is collective punishment of a civilian population, a violation of article 33 of 4th Geneva Convention. A war crime. You are a phony
You are mistaken to say Israel has never declared any borders. On 14 May 1948, when Israel declared statehood under UN resolution 181 it declared that sovereignty within precisely delineated borders as spelled out in meticulous detail in Part II of the resolution. UN 181 was activated when Israel declared statehood. The resolution said Jews living in Palestine and Arabs living in Israel could become citizens of the country in which they reside. UN 181 did not say what percentages of territory each state would hold. The illegal Israeli blockade on Gaza is not determined by borders. Israel has imposed collective punishment on a civilian population. That act is a violation of article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention. It is a war crime.
Brothers or not, Egypt does not control the border with Gaza. And if you think that all Muslims are brothers, you should do some serious reading. You have a lot to learn. Rifah, the crossing point from Gaza to Egypt has walls 8 meters high, a 3 kilometer buffer zone and Egypt is bound by treaty with Israel to keep the border closed. Egypt can only open the border upon Israeli agreement. In 2008, Israel kept the border closed 85% of the time.
It is hard to understand where you became so confused. This discussion is not about Israel's borders. It is about the blockade Israel has imposed on Gaza: the borders of Gaza are the issue. Israel controls air, sea and all points of entry and egress of Gaza. The blockade is collective punishment of a civilian population: a violation of article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention. Such a violation is a war crime.
I think that it was more of a "die in" on the part of Hamas. If there is one thing that the members of Hamas do very well, it is die. When round two happens, may they perfect the art and serve as an inspiring example to Hezbollah et al.
... but ignore Egypt's steel subsurface barrier now being constructed. Go figure.
HAMAS ARE TRYING TO PROVOKE ISRAEL INTO WAR TO GET SOME ATTENTION
You are telling Brad this concerns the Gazans and Israel but you yourself brought up the seige. Egypt is a part of it, not just Israel. You can't fairly fault Israel for protecting it's borders and then ignore Egypt when it does the same. There is nothing batty about Brad. If you want to resort to name calling I am sure many of us could think of quite a list of names to call you if we wanted to stoop to that level.
Why should Israel lift the seige? To let terrorists pass into Israel, or to let Hamas bring in more weapons? Israel already allows food, medicine, etc. to go in. I suppose you think that Hamas' policy of genocide (read their charter) is within the law? Under the circumstances, Israel's actions are right, proper and legal.
Perhaps Abu Ubaida has forgotten that it was Hamas that started the last war. It was Hamas that "imposed" the battle on Israel by shelling civilian homes. Granted that Hamas may have better missles, but how many shots will they get off if Israel is forced to invade a second time? If the Hamas leadership really cared about their own people, they would make peace with Israel. Or at least, instead of spending their vast wealth on destroying Israel they would build their own country in Gaza.
i thought that all muslims were 'brothers' so why doesnt Egypt open her border with gaza ?
how silly of me. Your right....israel should open her border right now with Gaza. Im afraid the west is with Israel on this one-again you lose
If there is no blockade, why are they not allowed to import such dangerous war supplies as pasta and toilet paper?
Israel has never set her borders and therefore has none. You know that as well as everyone else, so don't try to legalize the illegal seige of Gaza...
hostile hamas entities like gaza must be blocked eternally, no choice
ISrael has every right to control her borders. Thats what nations do ! Sorry if you dont like it-go cry to the U.N !
The fact is, all of the willing Israelites are going to return to Eretz Israel, not just the Jews but many more even. Neither Hamas nor any other Arabs living in this region can do anything to prevent this and violence will be retaliated against... but the Jews and the rest of them are going to have to learn that genocide and ethnic cleansing isn't an option for some of the people living in the Land, and that their own behaviour needs to be modified as well. This is going to take time, but it will happen. Either way, Hamas needs to calm down, submit, and re-evaluate why they (the Palestinians) really want to stay in region and if it's worth it.
They talk too much, they were swept away like dust during the last war.
and hamas will bring in all the worldwide terrorist and weaponry that all the foreign aid (destined for the gazans) will buy. Hamas cares little for the fortunes of the gazans. Gazans tho shed little love for israel are pawns for hamas in the battle against israel
the blockade is real and only a little compared to what they need is allowed in or smuggled...for instance glass was just allowed in.....gaza has not rebuilt cause the zio-entity will not allow it and it is a crime against humanity
If there is no blockade, as you state, why does the UN ask Israel to cease the blockade? Just being silly, right... As regards Egypt that you tell me to "complain about", go and complain about it yourself, Brad. This discussion concerns the Gazans and Israel.
First, there is no true blockade. Food, medicine, water, and fuel gets through daily. Ill Pals go to Israeli hospitals, etc. To the extent that there is a blockade, and no doubt there is no free movement in and out of the Israeli border, its completely warranted. There is no obligation of Israel to open that border and given Hamas offensive conduct, really the blockade should be complete. In any event, Silvienne, why don't you complain about Egypt.
Where are the phony "human rights" activists? Where are the two-faced hypocrites in the face of a Hamas promise of more war. Nowhere does Hamas talk about peace. They don't even use the word. They are accused by Goldstone, Amnesty Intl and Human Rights Watch of carrying out war crimes against Israeli civilians. So, you alleged "human rights" supporters - let's hear you call for Hamas leaders to be put on trial for their war crimes. And remember, the war crimes against Israeli civilians are not just by Hamas, but by Fatah too. Let's hear from you, you phonies...
once they get all their released terrorists back.
it is due time israel raised down this terrorist camp called gaza, with no mercy.
While Hamas grunts are ready to fight Israel again,Hamas leaders,on the other hand,are busy staking out hiding places.
...is it not natural for Hamas to seek to break it? If my state in America was blockaded by others, I wouldn't hesitate to assist Hamas in trying to break the blockade. And so would everyone else do the same thing, if they are honest..
...Hamas says ready to fight Israel again .. Yes, but Israel is not ready to fight you, Hamas. Livni is in a deep trouble right now..
This time they can use Goldstone as a human shield.
isreal is going to bomb gaza once gilad is released. but hamas will be ready
Why wait for them to attack you first. IAF pounding for a month then IDF invasion after. It's time to drop the hammer.
another 1400 people will die cause of them.
it is against int law and an act of war
Which only says what we all knew except the politicians at that time "A job half done is a job not done"