Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, said that the Al-Qassam Brigades’ attack on the Gaza Strip last Saturday “was an organized and disciplined operation, and the instructions were to attack the Israeli military division of Gaza.”

Al-Arouri added: “We knew that there were arrangements after the holidays to launch a large-scale attack on us,” noting that “we preempted an Israeli attack by surprising the leadership of the Israeli military division in the south, and it collapsed quickly.”

He added: "The Americans talk about morality, and they are the ones who exterminated an entire people, established a state on its land, and struck people with nuclear bombs."

The deputy head of the Hamas political bureau continued: “The West accuses us of committing crimes against humanity, but it ignores that the war against us was based on Israel’s targeting of civilians.”