Hamas has vowed to conduct ‘additional terror attacks’ against Israeli civilians, with the terrorist group warning that ‘what is coming is worse and greater.’
In a chilling new threat, Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, threatened to kill more Israeli civilians more than two months after the terrorists attacked southern Israel and killed 1,200 people as they fled a music festival or their homes.
Obeida, referencing a shooting attack conducted by two Hamas gunmen on a bus stop in Jerusalem on November 30, said ‘what is coming is worse and greater’.
Three Israeli civilians, a woman in her 20s, a woman in her 60s, and a 74-year-old rabbi – were killed in the attack at the bus stop during rush hour.
Obeida’s vow that ‘what is coming is worse and greater’ comes after he warned Israeli hostages will be executed unless Israel meets Hamas’s demands.
Obeida made that chilling threat to Israel and what he called ‘its arrogant leadership’ on Sunday, vowing that it would not get its hostages back alive ‘without an exchange and negotiation and meeting the demands of the resistance.’
Israel says there are still 137 hostages in Gaza, while activists say around 7,000 Palestinians are in Israeli jails.
The Hamas spokesperson declared that the temporary truce between the terror group and Israel ‘proved our credibility’ and that ‘none of the enemy’s prisoners will leave, except on our terms’.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to the terror group to surrender immediately or face certain death.
As the two sides traded blows, hopes for a ceasefire were wearing thin, with Israel hinting that it is willing to continue its bitter fight for months or longer to completely eradicate Hamas and mediator Qatar saying willingness to negotiate is fading.
It comes as Israeli tanks on Monday sought to push further west in their battle against Hamas in and around Khan Younis, the southern Gaza Strip’s main city, as U.N. officials reiterated calls for a ceasefire to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
The fighting in Khan Younis comes as Israel refocuses war effort to the south after pounding northern Gaza and driving the majority of the Palestinian enclave’s 2.3 million people from their homes.