By Ali Ghorban Bagheri
Palestinian resistance movement will inflict a second crushing blow on the Israeli regime if it launches the ground invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip, says a Hamas official.
In a conversation with the Press TV website, Raafat Morra, who is responsible for Hamas’s public relations and popular mobilization, said the regime in Tel Aviv suffered a big defeat on October 7.
The Gaza-based resistance movement launched an unprecedented operation called ‘Al-Aqsa Storm’ (also known as Al-Aqsa Flood) that took the occupying Israeli regime by complete surprise.
The attack targeted military installations and killed thousands of Israeli soldiers and settlers. Hundreds of others were also taken as prisoners of war, including senior Israeli commanders.
In a knee-jerk and desperate reaction, the Israeli regime responded with indiscriminate shelling of densely populated civilian areas in the besieged coastal strip, killing mostly women and children.
The bombing campaign has left 2,329 people dead and 9,042 people injured so far.
There has been talk of the regime also mounting a ground offensive against the Gaza Strip, which the resistance factions have strongly warned against as they are fully prepared for it.
Israel has amassed troops around the strip in preparation for a potential ground offensive after warning people in northern Gaza to evacuate and move toward the southern part of Gaza.
“The Israeli regime suffered a defeat on October 7. It will undoubtedly suffer another defeat if it launches a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip,” Morrah said, warning against the foolhardy move.
He said the movement managed to deal the regime a “very painful blow” that shook its army, and debunked the myth of Israeli military and security superiority, showing how fragile it is.
The regime, the Hamas official noted, is now trying to exact revenge by launching a mass bombardment campaign on the Gaza Strip, destroying houses, medical facilities and infrastructure.
“Hamas and the Palestinian people will be resilient in the face of aggression and the Israeli regime will be unable to achieve its goals,” the Hamas official said.
Asked if other resistance groups across the region might get involved against the regime, he said Hamas has asked all resistance forces in the Arab and Muslim world to participate in the battle.
“We ask everybody to engage in the fight against the regime in whatever form they can. It’s up to them to decide how they can contribute to it,” Morrah said.
Asked why the Western states rushed to the regime’s aid, he said they soon found out what a big failure and defeat the regime suffered and started worrying about the existence of the regime.
“The UK, US and Germany have started offering the regime military support and protection. This shows the weakness of the regime and that it can’t deal with resistance forces,” he remarked.
“This also shows the Western states are not certain the regime will continue to exist.”