Hamas Chief Says Israel's Gaza Ground Offensive Bound to Fail
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said Friday that Israel's ground operation in Gaza was destined to fail, in remarks to Agence France Presse in the Qatari capital.
"What the occupier Israel failed to achieve through its air and sea raids, it will not be able to achieve with a ground offensive. It is bound to fail," Meshaal said from his exile in Doha.
A Hamas spokesman in Gaza said earlier "Israel will pay a high price" for launching the ground operation and that the Islamist Palestinian movement "is ready for the confrontation".
Meshaal said Hamas has "clear demands", including an end to "the aggression and collective punishment against our people in Gaza and in the West Bank, as well as the lifting of the Gaza siege."
He insisted that the "source of the problem lies with the Israeli occupation and the construction of settlements" which he said the Palestinian people are "determined to get rid of sooner or later". He did not elaborate.
The exile Hamas leader also called on the international community to "assume its responsibility and put an end to Israeli terrorism".
Source: Agence France Presse
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