The militant Palestinian organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip have vowed to continue their fight against Israel. According to the organization, Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Jihia al-Sinwar, wrote in a letter to the chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Hanija, and other members of the board on Monday: "The Kassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas) are conducting a fierce, brutal and unprecedented fight against the Israeli occupation forces." According to Al Jazeera, Islamic Jihad also stated on Monday that it would continue to fight in response to the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar claimed that they had inflicted heavy losses of life and equipment on the Israeli army. The Kassam Brigades reportedly attacked at least 5,000 Israeli soldiers, killing a third of them, seriously injuring another third, and permanently disabling the remaining third. These numbers clearly contradict the Israeli army's reports, which stated that over 150 Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar also wrote that 750 Israeli military vehicles had been completely or partially destroyed. However, there is no information available from the Israeli army to support these claims.
In conclusion, the Hamas leader in Gaza claimed that the Kassam Brigades had "shattered" the Israeli troops and were in the process of crushing them. This description contradicts the actual situation. Sinwar wrote that the armed Hamas wing would not submit to Israeli conditions.
Sinwar may have been responding to reports of an Egyptian proposal to end the conflict in Gaza. Hanija recently held talks in Egypt as part of a delegation. He is considered the foreign leader of Hamas and resides in Qatar.
According to reports, the Hamas political leadership living in exile is already engaged in discussions behind the backs of the two Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, regarding the governance of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank after the end of the war. Israel wants to target Sinwar and Deif, who are believed to be the masterminds behind the terrorist attack on October 7th and are suspected to be hiding in the underground tunnel network in the southern Gaza Strip.
During the Israeli offensive, large parts of the Gaza Strip were destroyed. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 20,400 people were killed. About four out of five of the 2.2 million inhabitants of the coastal strip were displaced from their homes during the war, according to UN reports. UN aid agencies depict a picture of destruction, despair, hunger, hardship, and suffering.
The Israeli army claims to have killed around 8,000 Hamas terrorists. Currently, this information cannot be independently verified.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday after visiting troops in the Gaza Strip that Israel would "intensify the fight in the coming days". He spoke of a long fight against Hamas, stating that its end was not imminent.