Hamas says not intimidated by Israel's ground invasion threat, warns Gaza will become invaders’ graveyard

Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for the movement’s military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, on Monday.

“Threatening us with ground invasion does not intimidate us, and we are ready to deal with any brutal force,” Abu Ubaida said, warning, “Gaza will only be a graveyard for its invaders and its sands will swallow you up.”

“We tell the enemy that your entry [into Gaza] will be a new opportunity [for us] to hold you accountable for the crimes that you are committing against us,” the spokesperson added.

“We call on all countries of the world to warn their nationals against fighting in the enemy’s army. We will deal with any fighter in the occupation army who holds another nationality as a direct enemy,” Abu Ubaida warned.

His warning came as the regime continues its all-out bloody war, which started on Saturday, against the Gaza Strip. The Israeli aggression has so far killed more than 2,800 Palestinians and wounded close to 11,000 others.

The war began after an operation by the Gaza-based resistance groups, which has so far left some 1,200 Israeli forces and illegal settlers dead and hundreds of others captive. Palestinian resistance groups launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodshed and destruction against their people.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the al-Qassam Brigades spokesman said, “The enemy has deliberately launched a brutal attack against our people instead of confronting the fighters in the battlefield.”

He added that the Israeli regime did not expect “an Arab force besieged in Gaza would deal it the harshest blow in its history.”

Abu Ubaida also announced that al-Qassam Brigades is currently holding nearly 200 Israeli captives, while other resistance groups have captives of their own, whose number he put at about 50.

“We cannot currently reveal the complete and accurate number of occupation [regime’s] captives in the Gaza Strip due to security … considerations, but we estimate in principle that their number is between 200 and 250, and may be slightly more than that,” Abu Ubaida said.

“Al-Qassam has about 200 captives, and the rest [of them] are distributed among other [resistance] factions,” he explained, adding that as many as 22 captives have been already killed as a result of the Israeli regime’s indiscriminate attacks on the besieged territory.

According to the Hamas’ official, al-Qassam is holding a group of captives of different nationalities, who “are our guests and we seek to protect them.”

He added, “We will release foreign captives when conditions in the field permit.”