he military wing of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says it is prepared for “all possibilities” and remains on “high alert”, stressing that Israel’s threats to resume war on the besieged Gaza Strip will not secure the release of Israeli captives.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for al-Qassam Brigades, made the remarks in a videotaped speech on Thursday, stressing that what the occupying entity has failed to achieve through “weapons and war” can never be attained through “threats and deception.”
His comments came just a day after US President Donald Trump threatened that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Hamas fighters would be killed if they do not immediately release the remaining Israeli captives held in the besieged territory.
“Despite the enemy's violations and betrayals, we remain committed to the prisoner exchange agreement in all its details before the world and the mediators. We have decided — and still wish — to uphold this agreement to prevent the shedding of our people’s blood, remove any excuses, and honor the commitments made to mediators,” Abu Ubaida added.
Israel accepted Hamas’s longstanding negotiation terms under a three-phase Gaza ceasefire, which began on January 19.
In phase one, which ended on Saturday, a total of 33 Israeli captives, including eight bodies, were released in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian abductees held in the regime’s jails.
However, Israel refused to move forward to the second stage of the truce, which would lead to a permanent end to the war, a full withdrawal of the occupation troops from Gaza, and the release of all captives.
“The Israeli enemy has evaded many of its commitments, which are the basic rights of our people, resorting instead to bullying, stalling, and arrogance,” Abu Ubaida said.
"The enemy's leaders are trying to bypass the agreement so that their prime minister and ministers can prioritize their party interests over the lives of their captives and secure American support for any form of aggression."
Abu Ubaida said the international community has witnessed how the enemy has “exploited Palestinian prisoners”, who have given “horrifying testimonies” about the regime’s “criminal treatment.”
After the expiry of the first phase of the ceasefire, Israel blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza in flagrant breach of international law. The blocking has also been condemned as a crime against humanity.
“The Islamic Ummah will not experience peace or stability, nor will it hold a respectable place among nations, until this holy land (Palestine) is cleansed of the Zionist occupiers,” Abu Ubaida emphasized.
He also stressed that the shortest path to stability and peace in this region is to "restrain the Zionist regime" and force it to honor its signed commitments.
“The enemy’s threat to return to war will only push us back into the battlefield to shatter whatever remains of their credibility,” he said, stressing that the enemy's threats only reflect “weakness and humiliation.”
The Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman said “any escalation of aggression will most likely result in the killing of some of the enemy’s captives.”
Israel launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
The Tel Aviv regime failed to achieve its declared objectives of freeing captives and eliminating Hamas despite killing at least 48,440 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza.
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