Hamas: Israel Will Have To Evacuate Ashdod, Ashkelon And Tel Aviv In Next War

Hamas: In next war, Israel has to evacuate Ashdod, Ashkelon and Tel Aviv

In the next war between Hamas and Israel, the Israelis will have to evacuate not only their “settlements” near the border with the Gaza Strip, but also Ashdod, Ashkelon, the Negev and Tel Aviv, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, threatened on Saturday.

He said that despite the recent ceasefire understandings with Israel, the Palestinians will continue to protest near the border fence with Israel.

Sinwar, who was speaking to representatives of Palestinian factions and civil society organizations in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave, said that his movement will continue to be ready for war with Israel to “defend the Palestinian people.” Hamas, he said, will be a “shield and sword” for the Palestinians.

Sinwar said that if a war is “imposed” on the Gaza Strip, Israel will “suffer.” He added: “I pledge that the occupation will evacuate its settlements not only in the ‘Gaza Envelope,’ but also in Ashdod, the Negev, Ashkelon and even Tel Aviv. Remember this pledge. The fingers of the resistance in the Gaza Strip are on the trigger. We are today ten times stronger than we were in 2014 (in reference to the Operation Protective Shield).”

Regarding the ceasefire understandings with Israel, Sinwar said Hamas did not pay any “political price.” The understandings, he said, “have no prices or political dimensions.”

He further said that the understandings were not connected to any prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel, or the issue of the weapons of Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.

“The understandings are not an alternative to Palestinian unity and partnership,” the Hamas leader explained. “There is no talk about the Palestinian right to resistance in all its forms, especially in the West Bank. Also, there is no talk about halting the March of Return.”