Palestinian resistance groups: We upended Israeli regime’s calculations

“The new round of fighting with the occupying Israeli regime further strengthened the resistance front. The Zionist enemy mistakenly believed that the time was ripe for assassination of Palestinian resistance leaders, but it was a grave miscalculation,” it said in a statement on Saturday evening.

The umbrella group said that Israeli military officials had planned to wrap up the latest onslaught on the Gaza Strip in a very short span of time, but were stunned by the scope of resistance fighters’ preparedness and rapid response to air raids.

The Joint Operations Room of the Palestinian Resistance Factions warned Israel against employment of the policy of targeted killings, adding that resistance fighters have their fingers on the trigger and will not hesitate to respond in case the Tel Aviv regime resorts to carrying out assassinations.

The Palestinian resistance factions also paid homage to those killed in the latest Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, saying that the fallen resistance fighters confronted the Zionist enemy’s calculations and hostile strategies.

Islamic Jihad chief thanks Iran, Hezbollah

Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement, has extended his sincere gratitude to anyone that stood by the group, “particularly Iran, Hezbollah as well as brethren in Egypt and Qatar”, during the latest Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

He told Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network that Palestinians can never be defeated as they are resilient and their leaders rise up as martyrs.

Nakhalah said Israel wanted to drown Palestinians in their own blood, and drive them to despair and humiliation, but fighters from the al-Quds Brigades – the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement – thwarted the enemy’s plots.

“Once they (Israelis) launched this aggression and escalated it, all cities in the occupied territories were defined by al-Quds Brigades members and fighters from other Palestinian resistance groups as legitimate targets,” the Islamic Jihad chief said.

He also thanked all walks of the Palestinian society who stood with their compatriots in the besieged Gaza Strip, stressing that they firmly supported Palestinians even though they were undergoing a great deal of suffering.

“We will finish our battle with our weapons drawn. Our fighters are highly alert on the battlefield and ready to confront any act of aggression,” Nakhalah added.

Meanwhile, Israel’s so-called national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on the administration to approve a military operation against Palestinian resistance leaders in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking at a meeting with members of his far-right Jewish Power party, Ben-Gvir emphasized that the Tel Aviv regime should employ the policy of targeted killing in the West Bank as it did in the impoverished Gaza Strip.

Palestinian officials say Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in Gaza have agreed to a truce that officially went into effect at 10 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Saturday.

Egypt, which brokered the ceasefire, called on all sides to adhere to the agreement.

“In the light of the agreement of the Palestinian and the Israeli side, Egypt announces a ceasefire between the Palestinian and the Israeli side has been reached,” read a text of the agreement seen by Reuters news agency.

“The two sides will abide by the ceasefire which will include an end to targeting civilians, house demolition, an end to targeting individuals immediately when the ceasefire goes into effect,” it said.

At least 33 Palestinians, including 13 civilians, were killed and 147 others wounded in the latest round of Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s health ministry.