Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said that its fighters lured two Israeli forces and trapped them in separate mine ambushes in the Al-Mughraqa area in the central Gaza Strip.

The movement added that explosive devices were used in the two ambushes and that the missiles fired by F-16 fighters at civilians in the area following the operation did not explode.

The occupation continues its relentless aggression against Gaza for the 201st day in a row, and the death toll from the occupation’s aggression has risen to 34,262 martyrs, in addition to the injury of 77,229 people since the seventh of last October.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas,” launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7 in response to the Israeli occupation’s violations in the occupied Palestinian territories.

On the other hand, the occupation launched a military operation against the Gaza Strip, which it called “Iron Swords.” It launched a series of violent raids on several areas in the Strip, resulting in hundreds of martyrs and thousands of wounded, in addition to the destruction of large numbers of buildings, residential towers, institutions, and infrastructure.

Hamas is ready to reach a truce for five years and will not hand over the prisoners before the end of the war.

Leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), Khalil Al-Hayya, said that the movement is ready to agree to a truce for five years or more with Israel.

Al-Hayya stated, in statements to the Associated Press, that Hamas is ready to lay down its arms and transform into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established on the 1967 borders.

He revealed that the movement would accept a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian refugees by international resolutions on Israel’s pre-1967 borders.

He pointed out that Hamas wants to join the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Al-Hayya said that all the fighters’ experiences against the occupiers at independence and when they obtained their rights and their state showed that they turned into political parties. The fighting forces defending their people turned into the national army.

Rafah attack

Regarding the Israeli threats to attack the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, the Hamas leader said that the attack “will not succeed in destroying Hamas.”

Al-Hayya revealed, in an interview with Associated Press, that “communications between the political leadership of Hamas abroad and the military leadership in Gaza were not interrupted due to the war” and that “communications, decisions, and directives are made in consultation between the two sides.”

He explained that the Israeli occupation forces “did not destroy more than 20% of Hamas’ capabilities, whether human or field.”

Armistice negotiations

Regarding the prisoner negotiations, Al-Hayya confirmed that the Hamas movement wants Qatar to continue the role of mediator, revealing at the same time that the movement has no intention of moving its political office from the Qatari capital, Doha.

Al-Hayya explained that “Hamas made concessions regarding the number of Palestinian prisoners it wants to release in exchange for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages,” noting that “the movement does not know exactly how many detainees are still in Gaza and are still alive.”

He stressed that “Hamas will not back down from its demand for a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces” and wondered about the feasibility of handing over prisoners held by the resistance “if we are not sure that the war will end.”

After the aggression

In the context of talking about the post-aggression arrangements in Gaza, the leader – who headed the negotiating delegation in the truce talks – confirmed that Hamas “categorically rejects any non-Palestinian presence in Gaza, whether at sea or on land,” indicating that it will deal with any “military force.” “There is an Israeli or other presence in these places as an occupying force.”

Al-Hayya explained that the movement does not regret the attacks of the Al-Aqsa Battle of Flood on October 7, despite the devastation that occurred in the Gaza Strip, noting that “the operation succeeded in achieving its goal of restoring the world’s interest in the Palestinian issue,” stressing at the same time that Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades fighters will not target “civilians in the attack.”

He said Israeli attempts to eliminate Hamas would “ultimately fail” to prevent future armed Palestinian uprisings.