'Hamas won't be defeated'
The Iranian foreign minister has stressed that Israel and the US won't be able to realize their goal of wiping out the Hamas resistance movement even if they spend 10 years. Addressing the Doha Forum in Qatar via video conference, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said people should not think that the Hamas operation on October 7 triggered the Israeli onslaught on Gaza. It's rather the continuation of the Zionists' 75-year aggression against Palestinians. The minister said it is clear that the fighting has already expanded to the Lebanese and Yemeni fronts. He was referring to operations conducted by the Yemeni military and Lebanon’s Hezbollah in retaliation for the Israeli massacres in Gaza. Amir-Abdollahian reiterated Iran’s opposition to the so-called two-state solution to the Palestine conflict. He said Israel is also against the two-state solution, which is the only thing both Iran and the Zionist entity agree on.
General strike
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have gone on a general strike in solidarity with the people under Israel’s onslaught in the besieged Gaza Strip. This in response to a call by Palestinian factions for an international strike demanding ceasefire in Gaza. Public agencies, banks, shops and schools were all shut down in observance of the action. The Israeli bloodshed of the Palestinians is in its 66th day. People in Lebanon also observed a day of strike condemning the recent US veto of a UN Security Council resolution that called for ceasefire. Several shops across Jordan were also closed to press the government to take action to stop the war that has killed nearly 18000 Palestinians, mainly women and children.
Israeli military death toll
Palestinian resistance fighters are mounting retaliatory operations against Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, and outside the territory. According to media reports, sounds of sirens were heard in some of Tel Aviv’s neighborhoods as well as Ben Gurion Airport following a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza. The military wing of Hamas resistance movement has also launched rockets toward Israeli towns near Gaza. There’s been no immediate report of casualties. This comes as intense fighting continues across the coastal strip including in Khan Yunis in the south. Israel says the clashes have killed seven of its troopers. The regime has so far confirmed the deaths of over 100 forces in Gaza, since it attacked the territory more than two months ago. However, Hamas says the actual number is higher.