On the anniversary of the flood.. Abu Obeida: The operation was a massive preemptive strike that shook the Zionist entity and our choice is a long battle of attrition

Abu Obeida, the military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in a videotaped speech on the first anniversary of the Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa, today, Monday, that the operation "shook the Zionist enemy and changed the face of the region, in which we struck the enemy with a massive preemptive strike after its planning for a major strike against the resistance in Gaza with all its factions reached its final stages."

He added that a year has passed since "the most professional and successful commando operation in modern times, which targeted a criminal military unit, reinforced with all combat and intelligence systems."

Regarding Hamas’ decision to launch the Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa on October 7, Abu Obeida said: “After its aggression on Al-Aqsa reached an unprecedented dangerous stage, and after the enemy went too far in settlement, Judaization, aggression against prisoners, violation of all taboos, and the siege imposed on Gaza, after all this, the decision was made to carry out the historic strategic attack against the Gaza Division, its military garrisons, and its abhorrent settlement ring that is weighing on the hearts of our people, besieging us, and committing against us for decades all the crimes known to nations.”

He added: "Today, the summary of the reality in the region, a year after the Al-Aqsa flood, is as follows: A Palestinian people that is a legend in all stories of heroism, and Gaza that hides in shame before the greatness of our people who teach the world the meaning of dignity, love of the land, longing for freedom, fighting the occupiers, and legendary steadfastness despite the betrayal of those close to us and the cowardice and collusion of regimes."

Abu Obeida said, "Despite the brutality of the enemy and the forces of oppression and crime behind it, headed by the American administration and some Western governments, greetings to our great people, the support, backer and advocate whose sacrifices will not be in vain, God willing. God would not let your faith, patience and steadfastness go to waste, O our people, O crown of our heads."

In his explanation of the developments of the Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa on the rest of the fronts, Abu Obeida said: “As for the surroundings of Palestine, there are burning fronts fighting alongside our people and supporting them, and cutting off the enemy’s hope of remaining stable. Fronts are fighting the enemy directly today, engaging with it, inflicting heavy losses on it, and dealing it painful blows from the great and lofty Lebanon, from the free and fighting Yemen, and from the Iraq of civilization and glory.”

He added: "The drones and missiles of Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq are flying in the skies of occupied Palestine, striking important sites and targets of the enemy, draining its security and defensive capabilities, disrupting its balance, and inflicting heavy economic and military losses on it. It is also forcing it to be displaced and closing its seaports almost completely."

He stressed that "despite the extent of the Zionist sacrifices and crimes against the peoples of the region, the escalating Iraqi resistance operations and effective participation in the battle are evidence of the unity of the resistance on all fronts. We salute all the resistance forces in the region and our free brotherly peoples."

He continued: "The Islamic Republic of Iran is clashing with the Zionist enemy, and is delivering one and two true promise strikes, and dozens of ballistic missiles are raining down on the enemy's bases in a historical precedent, breaking the rules that the enemy has long established with the peoples and countries of the region, that they are far from punishment and exempt from accountability for their crimes."

He continued, saying: "The hero Maher Al-Jazzy ignites the fuse of an authentic Jordanian Arab front, emotionally, historically and geographically united with our country and our people, while the Zionist entity lives in the world as a brutal, murderous and criminal entity, rejected by all the nations of the earth and their free peoples, an entity that only thinks of building walls, fences and buffer zones."

The word of the lion of #Hamas Islam and international resistance and the voice of Palestine and its sword and knight #Abu_Ubaida, the official spokesman for the #Qassam_Brigades

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— Ali Kanaan (@AlikanaanPhD) October 7, 2024

Abu Obeida explained: “This entity depends only on the American-made and directed air force, and is only held together by the familiar American administrations’ ropes, which will be severed no matter how long it takes. It also depends on European colonial ropes that are rejected even by their own people, and on incapable normalizing regimes that do not represent the conscience of our nation in any way.”

However, the military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades said: “Anyone who looks at this situation realizes that the consequences for our people, our nation, and our resistance are in the face of an entity whose total lifespan is less than the lifespan of the shoes of the mosques and churches of Gaza, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jaffa. This entity has not lived a single year without resistance and fighting, reminding it in every attempt at stability that it is stealing Arab land.”

Abu Obeida stressed: "Our fighters and resistance fighters from all factions continue their steadfastness and heroic fighting with determination and firmness, in every inch of the Gaza Strip, wherever there are enemy soldiers, vehicles or military crowds, they face an unprecedented heroic fight." He pointed out that the Qassam Brigades have continuously developed their tactics, combat formations and methods of operation, in line with the current circumstances and all possible scenarios.

He noted that "our decision and choice is to continue the confrontation, in a long, painful and costly battle of attrition for the enemy as long as it insists on continuing the aggression," saying that "what honors our resistance, our movement and our battalions in this battle, and throughout its journey, is that it offers martyrs from among its leaders before its soldiers."

He pointed out that "the Zionist celebration of the assassination of the leaders of our movement and the resistance, headed by the great mujahid leader Ismail Haniyeh, may God have mercy on him, is the greatest evidence of the enemy's arrogance," adding that "the enemy's joy at the assassination of our leaders, including the martyr leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, is an imaginary and temporary joy. When were assassinations the end of the road for liberation and resistance movements? The history of our Palestinian and Arab revolution is full of examples that prove otherwise. Its joy will turn into regret."

He also said: "If assassinations were a victory, the resistance would have ended with the assassination of Sheikh Izz al-Din al-Qassam 90 years ago. However, the resistance continued and grew stronger. If brutality, house demolitions and revenge had stopped the resistance, the heroes of Gaza would not have humiliated the enemy in every street and alley after every war."

He continued: "The heroes in the West Bank today are rising up and fighting, despite all the enemy's attempts to break them since Operation Defensive Shield 22 years ago. The policy of assassinations against our leaders is a good ending and a sign of victory for us, and regret and disappointment for the aggressors. God Almighty promised victory for the free, and God's victory is coming."

Regarding the escalating Israeli aggression on Lebanon, Abu Obeida sent a message to Hezbollah, which read: “Today we say to our brothers, the fighters in Hezbollah in Lebanon, that we are confident in your steadfastness and courage in inflicting heavy and painful losses on the Zionist enemy forces, as the martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah promised in his usual positions. We are betting on your bravery and strength in the battle.”

He continued: "We have exhausted this defeated army in Gaza for a whole year after its humiliating defeat on October 7, and we have deprived it of a large percentage of its capabilities on the ground, and we have killed its alleged elite forces by the hundreds. Our face-to-face engagement with its soldiers has proven the failure of their aircraft, tanks, and intelligence."

Regarding the prisoners' file, Abu Obeida explained: "We tell the enemy's audience that you could have recovered all the prisoners alive a year ago if it weren't for the intransigence of the Netanyahu government," noting that the condition of the remaining prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance has become extremely difficult, both health-wise and morally.

He stressed that the risks to them are increasing day after day, and their fate is dependent on a decision by the occupation government, stressing, "We do not rule out the entry of the file of the enemy's prisoners into a dark, closed tunnel that is postponed indefinitely."

In his final speech, Abu Obeida called for “the greatest Islamic, Arab and international solidarity with the Palestinian people and their cause and with the Palestinian resistance, in terms of military, popular and public support.” He also called for launching the largest Arab, Islamic and international media campaign to support the Palestinian people and their resistance, in addition to calling for the largest cyber attack on the occupation by electronic warfare experts. He concluded by saying: “The Zionists must understand that they are outcasts from the entire free world.”

Source: Al-Araby Al-Jadeed