Hamas prepares for long war with Israel: worries about hostages grow

Hamas is prepared to fight a long war with Israel and will use dozens of hostages held in Gaza to secure the release of Palestinians detained in Israel and abroad, a senior member of the militant group has said.

Speaking to the Associated Press news agency, Ali Barake, a member of the group’s exiled leadership in Beirut, said Hamas had an arsenal of rockets that would last a long time.

“We are well prepared for this war and are ready to consider all scenarios, even the scenario of a long war,” he said, adding that Hamas would use hostages to secure the release of people held in Israeli prisons and even some Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. United States.

As The Guardian notes, his comments came amid growing concern about the fate of more than 100 people held by militants in Gaza. On Monday, Hamas threatened to begin executing its hostages if Israel carried out airstrikes on the Gaza Strip without first warning residents.

Palestinian militants kidnapped more than 100 people in a surprise multi-front attack in which they killed more than 700 people, making Saturday the deadliest day in Israeli history. Israeli media reported Monday that the death toll had risen to 900.

Israel responded to the attack with air and sea strikes that medics said killed more than 680 Palestinians in Gaza, an area home to 2.3 million people with nowhere to flee. Israel has since declared a “total siege” on Gaza, cutting off supplies of water, food and electricity.

Israel officially declared war on Sunday and called up 300,000 reservists, signaling a possible ground offensive on Gaza – a move that has always led to further bloodshed in the past. However, Israeli forces face the unprecedented challenge of waging urban warfare while dozens of hostages are likely to be hidden in tunnels and basements across the Gaza Strip.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Barake said that only a small number of senior commanders in Gaza knew about Saturday’s invasion of Israel and that even the group’s closest allies were not informed of the timing in advance. He denied reports that Iranian security officials helped plan the attack.

However, he added that allies such as Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah “will join the fight if a war of annihilation breaks out in Gaza.”

He said even Hamas was shocked by the scale of the operation, saying he expected Israel to prevent or limit the attack. “We were surprised by this huge collapse,” Barake said. “We planned to achieve some successes and take prisoners for an exchange. This army turned out to be a paper tiger.”

On Monday, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it was holding mediation talks with Hamas and Israeli officials, including over a possible prisoner exchange. Neither Israel nor Hamas have confirmed that they are participating in such negotiations. A Hamas spokesman based in Doha said the group was not open to talks on a prisoner exchange with Israel during the fighting.

In a joint statement Monday evening, US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged their “firm and united support for the State of Israel and our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its horrific terrorist attacks.”

They said: “We make it clear that Hamas’ terrorist actions have no justification or legitimacy and must be universally condemned. There is never any justification for terrorism.”

In a televised address late Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “eliminate the terrorists” still in Israel and thanked the United States for its “unconditional support.”

The World Health Organization said there were a total of 11 attacks on health facilities, including medical facilities, ambulances and health care providers, in the first 36 hours of the new conflict in Gaza.

“There is an urgent need to establish a humanitarian corridor for the smooth flow of life-saving patients, humanitarian personnel and essential medical supplies,” WHO said.

The United States has confirmed that the first batch of military aid is “on its way” to Israel.

“We fully expect there will be additional requests for security assistance to Israel as they continue to burn through ammunition in this fight,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. “We will keep pace with them, making sure we meet their needs as best we can and as quickly as possible.”

The U.S. has not yet specified the scope of Israel’s requests for security assistance, but a defense official tells The Associated Press that Washington will speed up pending Israeli orders and turn to its own U.S. military stockpile to help fill gaps in the Israeli military.

The official also appeared to dismiss concerns that the United States could have difficulty supplying Israel at the same time as supplying arms to Ukraine.

“We are able to continue our support to both Ukraine and Israel and maintain our own global readiness,” the US official said.

Also Monday, a senior Defense Department official warned that the U.S. is closely monitoring Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups, noting that the decision to move U.S. ships to the region was made to deter any of them from joining or expanding. conflict against Israel.

Israel said its troops repelled militants crossing the border from Lebanon on Monday. Israel responded to the infiltration attempt with helicopter strikes into Lebanese territory that reportedly killed at least three members of the powerful Hezbollah group. If Hezbollah, which has previously fought conflicts with Israel with devastating consequences, enters the war again, Israel will have to fight on two fronts, The Guardian notes.