Israel ‘stuck’ in Gaza as offensive enters day 200: Hamas

By Mohamed Majid

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Israel is “stuck” in the Gaza Strip amid a 200-day deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, Hamas said on Tuesday.

"The enemy has made nothing over the past 200 days except committing massacres, destruction and mass killings,” Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said in a recorded speech.

The Hamas spokesman accused Israel of hindering efforts to reach a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

“The so-called Israeli military pressure will only push us to maintain our positions and preserve the rights of our people,” he added.

Hamas demands an end to Israel’s brutal offensive on Gaza in return for an agreement for a Gaza cease-fire and hostage swap with Tel Aviv.

“We will not compromise on the basic rights of the Palestinian people, including halting the Israeli aggression, the withdrawal of the Israeli army, the return of the displaced to their areas, reconstruction, and lifting the blockade,” he added.

Abu Ubaida stressed that Israel “is trying to deceive the world into believing that they have eliminated all resistance groups, which is a pure lie."

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,200 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 77,000 others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now in its 200th day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul