Israel says Hamas 'no longer exists', Hamas declares it is still strong enough to fight on

Tel Aviv [Israel], September 16: A senior Hamas official has issued a strong statement after Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas 'no longer exists' as a military formation in Gaza.
In an interview with AFP in Istanbul (Turkey) on September 15, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan declared that the force still has many resources to continue fighting against Israel despite the losses sustained during more than 11 months of conflict in the Gaza Strip.
"This resistance has a high potential to continue. There will be sacrifices. but in return there will be the accumulation of experience and the recruitment of a new generation for the resistance."
"The number of casualties is much lower than what would be expected in a battle of this scale and level," Mr. Hamdan said.
Mr Hamdan's comments come less than a week after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters that Hamas "no longer exists" as a military formation in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a military offensive to destroy Hamas after a surprise attack by Hamas gunmen on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left 1,205 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
In that attack, Hamas gunmen also took 251 hostages, including 33 people who the Israeli army confirmed were dead, and 97 people are still being held in Gaza, according to AFP.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Authority accused Israel's military campaign of killing at least 41,206 people in Gaza.
Earlier, Mr Netanyahu claimed that Israel's military campaign had killed "no less than 17,000" Hamas members.
Also in the interview, Mr. Hamdan said that the US had not done enough to force Mr. Netanyahu to make concessions to end the conflict in Gaza.
The conflict has also drawn in other Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, notably Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
On September 15, the Houthis claimed to have carried out a missile attack on central Israel. Although there were no casualties, the attack caused a rush to shelters and increased tensions in the region.
According to Mr. Hamdan, the new Houthi attack shows the limitations of Israel's self-defense capabilities, including the Iron Dome air defense system.
"It is a message to the entire region that Israel is not an impervious entity. Even Israel's capabilities have limits," Hamdan said in an interview with AFP.
There is currently no information about the reaction of Israel or the US to Mr. Hamdan's statement.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper