Sawt Falasteen - Hamas official says group has 'high ability' to continue Gaza war despite losses

"The resistance has a high ability to continue," Osama Hamdan told AFP during an interview in Istanbul.

"There were martyrs and there were sacrifices... but in return there was an accumulation of experiences and the recruitment of new generations into the resistance."

His comments came less than a week after Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told journalists that Hamas, whose October 7 attack triggered the war, "no longer exists" as a military formation in Gaza.

"The number of casualties... is much less than what is expected in a battle of this size, level and breadth," Hamdan said on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched retaliatory military operations to destroy Hamas after the group's surprise attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

The Israeli military campaign has killed at least 41,206 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not provide breakdowns of civilian and militant deaths.

Militants also seized 251 hostages on October 7, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Netanyahu is facing mounting domestic pressure to seal a deal in which hostages would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Israel's announcement this month that the bodies of six hostages had been recovered from a tunnel in Gaza after they were "executed" by Hamas spurred an outpouring of grief and anger, leading to a brief general strike and large-scale demonstrations that continued in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Saturday night.

But months of negotiations aimed at securing a truce -- mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar -- have apparently stalled.

In the interview on Sunday, Hamdan said the United States, Israel's most important military backer, was not doing enough to force concessions from Netanyahu that would end the bloodshed.

"The American administration does not exert sufficient or appropriate pressure on the Israeli side," Hamdan said.

"Rather it is trying to justify the Israeli side's evasion of any commitment."

During two press conferences after officials announced the deaths of the six hostages earlier this month, Netanyahu said it was Hamas who refused to compromise and vowed "not to give in to pressure" on remaining sticking points.

He also said Israel's military campaign had killed "no less than 17,000" Hamas militants.

- Israel 'not immune' -

The war between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas has drawn in other Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, notably Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Huthi rebels in Yemen.

On Sunday the Huthis claimed a missile attack on central Israel that, while producing no casualties, triggered a rush to shelters and added to regional tensions.

Hamdan said the attack showed the limits of Israel's ability to defend itself, including its oft-touted aerial defence system.

"It is a message to the entire region that Israel is not an immune entity," Hamdan said.

"Even Israeli capabilities have limits."

Hamdan also reiterated Hamas's view that an attack earlier this month in which a Jordanian truck driver shot dead three Israeli guards at a border crossing underscored widespread anger at Israel in the region.

As for Arab leaders who have normalised diplomatic ties with Israel or are considering doing so, Hamdan said they should ask themselves how they would feel if their countries were occupied and the world stood by and watched.

"If you see Israel as a blessing and a gain... give them a piece of your country," he said, jokingly adding that it could be called "the new Israel".

- 'Day after' planning -

Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007, but with Israel calling for the group to be eliminated it is unclear what form it will exist in after the war.

Hamdan said on Sunday it was impossible to imagine a scenario in which Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar would leave the besieged territory.

Sinwar and other leaders "are ready to be martyred thousands of times in Palestine rather than leaving it because everything he is doing is to free Palestine," Hamdan said.

Hamas has demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, including the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow strip of land along Egypt's border that has emerged as a key sticking point in the truce talks.

Hamdan said that Hamas wants "joint Palestinian rule" in Gaza, adding that Hamas officials and representatives of other Palestinian factions would meet soon in Cairo to discuss their post-war vision.

"The day after the battle is a Palestinian day," he said.

L.Hussein--SF-PST