Israeli occupation forces continued on Saturday their aggression on Gaza for the fifth consecutive day in a new wave of escalation against the Strip after 57 days of calm which took effect on January 19, 2025.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the death toll from the Israeli genocide has risen to 49,747 martyrs and 113,213 injuries since October 7, 2023.
The ministry stated that 130 martyrs and 263 wounded were carried to hospitals in the Gaza Strip over the past 48 hours. The death toll since the resumption of the war of extermination on the Strip on March 18 has reached 634, with 1,172 injuries.
Three Palestinians were killed and several others were injured on Saturday following Israeli airstrikes targeting the village of Umm al-Nasser and the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.
Media sources reported several deaths and injuries as a result of artillery shelling targeting Al-Shimaa Street in the town of Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas Statement
In response to the biased statements made by the US National Security Advisor, which equate the aggressor with the victim and fully adopt the narrative of the occupation, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) issued a statement to affirm that
the claim of “Israel’s right to defend itself” is a blatant distortion of reality.
“The occupier does not have the right to defend its occupation; it is, in fact, the aggressor.”
The ongoing decades-long Zionist aggression against our people and the genocide in Gaza require condemnation and accountability, not justification and support, the statement added.
“The claim that ‘Hamas chose war instead of releasing the hostages’ is a distortion of the facts. The Palestinian resistance has offered clear initiatives for a ceasefire and a comprehensive prisoner swap. However, the occupation, led by Netanyahu, rejected these initiatives and deliberately sabotaged them to serve his political interests, as acknowledged by the heads of his own security services.”
“The argument that the ceasefire could be extended if the resistance releases all prisoners deliberately ignores the fact that the occupation was not serious about implementing the ceasefire terms. It failed to adhere to any of them and proceeded to kill, starve, and besiege our people, ultimately leading to the failure of any understandings and destroying the possibility of an extension.”
“The US statements reveal once again its full complicity in the aggression against our people, as well as its collusion with the occupation in committing genocide, starvation, and siege against more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, including thousands of children, women, and innocent civilians.”
Hamas reaffirmed that the Palestinian resistance is exercising its legitimate right to defend its people, land, and holy sites in the face of the occupation and aggression, adding that all attempts to distort the facts and absolve the occupation of its crimes or provide Washington with moral cover for its biased policies are doomed to failure.
“All efforts to distort the facts will ultimately fail, and history will record who stood with the truth and who colluded with murder.”
Source: Al-Manar English Website
