1801-02

Military Communiqué issued by

::: Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades :::

Palestinian resistance conducts first joint drills in Gaza

Statement by the Joint Operation Room of Palestinian Resistance Factions

In light of the challenges facing the Palestinian cause and hardships inflicted on the Palestinian people, including injustices, siege, settlement expansion, and aggression, we, the Palestinian resistance factions, are committed to the option of resistance against the Israeli occupation.

The Palestinian resistance will remain a safety valve and a true guarantee for preserving our Palestinian cause and achieve our Palestinian people’s aspirations.

Joint military action is not new to Palestinian freedom fighters. Our fighters, of all segments of our Palestinian people, have always been operating and fighting together in battlefields in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and throughout the decades-long Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation.

It does not seem peculiar that fighters of all Palestinian factions are fighting side by side, starting from training to coordinating all efforts to manage the struggle with the Israeli occupation until jointly fighting in battlegrounds.

In the context of enhancing joint action and cooperation between armed wings of the Palestinian resistance factions, we, in the Joint Operation Room of Palestinian Resistance Factions, announce the launch of a large-scale military drill, concluding a period of joint military training as part of any effort to raise the Palestinian resistance’s combat readiness permanently.

Under the command of the Joint Operation Room of Palestinian Resistance Factions, the drill will be carried out by our fighters of all military wings using live ammunition in various scenarios across the Gaza Strip. 

The military exercises will simulate expected threats posed by the Israeli occupation and are aimed at developing and enhancing the capability and competence of Palestinian resistance fighters to enable them to fight in different circumstances and times. 

In light of the aforementioned, the Joint Operation Room of Palestinian Resistance Factions states the following:

First: These defensive military exercises are intended to confirm that the Palestinian resistance is ready to defend its people at all times and under any circumstances and that it is willing to go into any battle to defend its people and their lands. We will not accept the Israeli occupation to attack our people; our decision to fight any battle imposed on Palestinian people anywhere anytime will be made unanimously. The Israeli occupation leadership has to realise that considering an offensive against our Palestinian people would be met with strength and unity and would carry many surprises.      

Second: These joint drills clearly reflect the joint decision-making and unity of the Palestinian resistance factions. The years-long struggle against the Israeli occupation resulted in a unique experience for the Palestinian resistance that has prompted it to unite behind defending its people and helped it set up its rules of engagement with the Israeli occupation.    

Third: The Palestinian resistance is in a constant state of developing its tools, techniques, and management of the Palestinian struggle. The Israeli occupation today is aware the Palestinian resistance has grown stronger and more capable of facing it off. The Palestinian resistance will remain a pain in the neck of the Israeli occupation until Palestinian hopes for freedom and return are fulfilled. Thus, it will not allow the Israeli occupation to enforce rules of engagement that it does not consent to; it will continue enhancing its capabilities at a higher level of coordination and field and leadership unity. 

Fourth: Our message to the whole world is that normalisation agreements will not change anything on the ground; the Palestinian people and resistance factions are the safety valve and the first line of defence for Palestine and its people and their holy sites. Normalisers and allies of the Israeli occupation will be consigned to the cesspool of history. We will continue this struggle until end the Israeli occupation of all our Palestinian lands. The Palestinian issue will remain the cause of Arabs, Muslims, and the free people of the world.

Fifth: The Palestinian resistance factions hail all Palestinians everywhere for backing the Palestinian resistance and facing off all conspiracies, paying tribute to all Palestinian martyrs and saluting the Palestinian wounded and detainees.

The Joint Operation Room of Palestinian Resistance Factions

Ezzeddeen Al-Qassam Brigades

Information Office

December 29, 2020