Twelve years ago, on 27 December 2008, the Israeli occupation thought that dropping hundreds of tons of explosives on many Palestinian sites across the besieged Gaza Strip at once would paralyze the Palestinian resistance, betting on the intensity of bombing, the scale of destruction, and the immense number of martyrs who had fallen, Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas said in a statement.
However, the Israeli occupation was puzzled that its onslaught had backfired; the destructive indiscriminate bombing and intimidation did not undermine or confuse the Palestinian resistance, which had quickly managed to turn this offensive into a conflict of wills and capabilities, Hamas added.
In light of the legendary Palestinian steadfastness and resilience, the Israeli occupation resorted to alternative plans that required field tactics to discover the operational capabilities of the Palestinian resistance in the battleground. Once the Israeli occupation army realised that a large number of its troops might be killed in the battle, it backtracked on this hypothesis and was deterred from getting engaged in direct clashes with the Palestinian resistance, the statement reads.
The Israeli occupation thought that it could wage a war without fighting, but its ground troops were faced by a fierce resistance from Palestinian factions, which had turned what he mistakenly assumed as an opportunity to regain its deterrence and restore its captive solider Gilad Shalit into bitter battles.
The Israeli occupation army failed to achieve its politically motivated military goals—all of its calculations failed.
During this offensive, the popular base that staunchly supported the Palestinian resistance did not voice discontent over or pressure the Palestinian resistance to disarm and hand over the Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit without the price of releasing Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons.
The 21-day onslaught did not discourage the Palestinian resistance from pursing its goal of releasing Palestinian detainees from Israeli jails. For this sake, the Gaza Strip made great sacrifices; hundreds of martyrs fell, dozens of people were injured, hundreds of buildings were destroyed. All of this was in the middle of a crippling siege that affected all aspects of life.
This year’s anniversary comes as the Palestinian resistance proves that it is more willing to defend its people, while its popular base is more supportive of it and its goals. Releasing Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons is still a top priority for the Palestinian resistance, which will not rest until fulfilling its promise.
In light of this anniversary, Hamas, state the following:
First: The armed Palestinian resistance will remain a spearhead of settling this freedom struggle. And the Israeli occupation has no future in Palestine.
Second: We are not warmongers, but if the Israeli occupation considered shedding Palestinian blood, it would be shocked by actions that it had never expected.
Third: Releasing Palestinian captives will remain a sacred goal; we will not rest until we set all of them free.
Fourth: Palestinian unity is an irreversible, constant option in the face of the Israeli occupation; we will spare no effort to restore national unity and call on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to accept what all Palestinian factions have agreed on – holding Palestinian elections simultaneously.
Fifth: Normalisation will remain a shame haunting all those who betted on the Israeli occupation, which continues to kill Palestinians, destroy their properties, Judaise their holy sites, and expand its settlements in Palestine.
We salute all martyrs who fell in this offensive, foremost among them senior Hamas leader Said Seyam.