Speaking on Tuesday, Hamas’ Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh congratulated Palestinians on their inflicting a “humiliating defeat” on Israel during the resistance operation, the Palestinian Information Center news agency reported.
“We say this to the Zionist enemy that the days when it would perpetrate crimes against the Palestinian nation without paying the price are over,” he said.
The resistance operation featured an “integrated response” on the part of Palestinian fighters from various branches, striking “fear and terror” inside the heart of the Israeli military, Haniyeh noted.
Israel launched the military campaign against Jenin early Monday, mobilizing upwards of 1,000 troops as means of supposedly damaging the resistance “infrastructure” in the city and the refugee camp that it hosts.
At least 12 Palestinians and one Israeli trooper died as a result of the conflict, during which a steadfast Palestinian resistance response prompted the regime to pull out its forces after less than two days.
Also on Tuesday, a car ramming and stabbing attack in the coastal city of Tel Aviv in the occupied territories wounded seven people.
Haniyeh described the Tel Aviv operation as “heroic.” He said it indicated that all Palestinians from various places and societal strata were supportive of the struggle that was going on in Jenin, and considered resistance to be their “strategic option” against the enemy’s atrocities and towards forcing the occupiers out of the Palestinian land.
“We conveyed a clear message from all parties to the enemy,” the Hamas official asserted, saying the message was that “the Zionist enemy should end its invasion against the Jenin camp fast.”
The Islamic Jihad, Hamas’ fellow resistance movement in Gaza, also felicitated Palestinians on the occasion of the “great victory.”
“Through their unity and the support they provided for the Palestinian fighters, the Palestinian people proved that they can defeat the enemy in whatever confrontation,” said the Islamic Jihad’s Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhaleh.
MNA/PressTV