Senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum on Wednesday branded the prisoner exchange deal with Israel as a victory for the terrorist organization.
'Strategic victory'
Senior Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum on Wednesday branded the prisoner exchange deal with Israel as a victory for the terrorist organization.
"We broke the enemy's political stance and created a situation that forced their leadership to succumb to our terms," he said. According to him, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, "achieved a strategic victory on October 7 and will remain strong, ready to act if the occupation commits any violation."
A Lebanese official denied on Thursday a Reuters report that Beirut had agreed with Israel to a shortlist of countries that could send troops to Lebanon to verify the disarmament of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and said it was following up on the issue with Washington.
Israel won't withdraw from southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, the defence minister said on Thursday, qualifying remarks he made a day earlier that had suggested Israeli forces would occupy the territory indefinitely and drew U.S. criticism.
Israeli troops clashed with Jewish settlers on Wednesday while trying to disperse them from a West Bank outpost they set up directly in front of Palestinian homes, and later withdrew from the area after failing to clear the settlers, witnesses said.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.