Hamas says Israel destroyed no more than 20% of its combat potential

The Israeli army has destroyed no more than 20% of the military potential of the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, the organization's political official, said, reported from TASS.

"They have not destroyed more than 20% of [Hamas’] capabilities, neither human nor [equipment] in the field," he told the Associated Press. According to the movement's deputy leader in Gaza, the conflict can be resolved through consensus-building.

He also said that Hamas would like to see "a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions." According to him, the group is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and lay down its weapons if an independent Palestinian state is established within its pre-1967 borders.

The Hamas political official opined that if Israel leaves Palestinian land, all those who fought against it "will turn into political parties and their defending fighting forces will turn into the national army." He added that in this case the Haman military wing would be dissolved.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. In response, Israel launched a military operation in the Palestinian enclave to destroy Hamas' military and political wings and free all hostages.

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