Hamas's armed wing said on Monday it lost only 48 fighters during Israel's 22-day operation in Gaza and vowed to fight on unless the Jewish state withdrew its forces from the Palestinian enclave. "We announce to our people the martyrdom of 48 Qassam fighters," Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a televised press conference.And the citizenry no doubt believes it. Or will, with sufficient repetition...
Israel reported killing more than 500 Hamas members during Operation Cast Lead which it launched on Gaza on December 27 and ended on Sunday with a ceasefire. Gaza medics said a total of more than 1,300 Palestinians have died.
Abu Obeida also claimed that Israel lost "at least 80 soldiers" in the fighting. The Jewish state listed 10 soldiers killed.
The spokesman repeated the "victory" cry declared by Hamas leaders on Sunday as the guns fell silent and underlined that Hamas' own ceasefire would only last a week unless Israel fully withdrew troops from Gaza. The Islamist movement's capacity to fire rockets into Israel had not been reduced, he added. One of Israel's main aims during the offensive was to stop rocket attacks.
Israel's efforts, backed by the United States and European leaders, to prevent Hamas from re-arming, would also fail, Abu Obeida said. Israel had failed to achieve "any of the objectives it had set for the war ... and only killed hundreds of children, women and old people."