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Claiming victory in 2-day rocket barrage, Hamas backers rally across Gaza
Demonstrations held in Khan Younis, Gaza City, Jabalya, Rafah, and Ramallah to ‘celebrate the victory of the resistance’ while terror group mocks Israeli leaders
Adam Rasgon is the Palestinian affairs reporter at The Times of Israel
As an apparent ceasefire went into effect between Israel and Hamas on Tuesday evening after two days of rocket fire on Israeli towns and retaliatory strikes by Israel, the terror group that rules Gaza sought to depict the cessation of hostilities as a dramatic victory for its side.
In southern Israel, by contrast, demonstrators protested against the ceasefire.
Demonstrations by Palestinians in Gaza were held throughout the coastal enclave, with marches taking place in Khan Younis, Gaza City, Jabalya, and Rafah, Palestinian media outlets reported.
Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV and the Hamas-linked Palestinian Information Center contended the demonstrations were all “spontaneous.” The Quds News Network said the demonstrations were “in support of the resistance.”
Pictures on social media from the demonstrations in Gaza showed both green Hamas flags and Palestinian flags raised by participants.
In a speech to demonstrators in Gaza City in front of the rubble of the Al-Aqsa TV headquarters, destroyed by Israel in an airstrike on Monday night, Hamas official Ismail Radwan declared victory.
“We come out today, celebrating the victory of the resistance, the victory of the Qassam and the victory of the Palestinian resistance here on the mighty land of Gaza,” Radwan said.
“You will not commit a crime without being held accountable for it,” he added. “We salute the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. We salute the resistance. We salute the joint command center [of Palestinian factions in Gaza].”
Radwan also spoke highly of the rockets terrorists groups in Gaza fired at Israel.
“The resistance’s missiles were launched from here and hit the Zionist depth. The message was clear: bombardment for bombardment, killing for killing, blood for blood,” he said. “If you attack Gaza and our people, the response will be the resistance and the Qassam’s missiles shaking you everywhere—in Haifa, Jaffa, Ashkelon and Majdal. God is great. God is great.”
A march was also held in Ramallah in the West Bank, which the Palestinian Authority’s official news outlet Wafa said was a protest of “the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.”
#رام_الله: مسيرة جماهيرية تنديدا بالعدوان الإسرائيلي على قطاع غزة وسط مدينة رام الله.
(تصوير: حمزة شلش/وفا) pic.twitter.com/0OyGBRj4bv— Wafa News Agency (@WAFA_PS) November 13, 2018
Hamas also mocked Israeli leaders on Tuesday amid public anger over the ceasefire, saying the Israeli ministers would “pay with their political careers” for the “failure” Israel was purportedly dealt in the violence, Hadashot TV news reported.
