Israel-Palestine Escalation
Israel was hit by an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7, with Hamas movement's troops infiltrating border areas. On October 8, the Israeli government announced that it had invoked Article 40 of the Basic Law, which means the country was officially in a state of war.

Palestinian Resistance Preparing 'Surprises' for Israel, Hamas Rep Tells Sputnik

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas is now in its third month, with nearly 1,200 people killed in Israel and more than 20,000 in the Gaza Strip.
Sputnik
The Palestinian resistance is preparing "surprises" for Israel that will force it to end the war and withdraw from the Gaza Strip, Mashhour Abdel Halim, a member of the political leadership of Hamas in Lebanon, told Sputnik.
"The Palestinian resistance will soon deliver surprises on the ground that will force Israel to end the war and go for a final solution involving its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons," he noted.
The representative described talk of a partial and temporary ceasefire as "unacceptable, especially after the killing and destruction the Israeli army has inflicted since the end of the previous ceasefire."
According to Abdel Halim, the Palestinian stance is "unchanged" and demands a comprehensive agreement and a complete end to the war in Gaza in exchange for a comprehensive prisoner and detainee exchange deal, more than 8,000 Palestinians.
According to the Hamas representative, the movement's leaders have rejected a recent Egyptian initiative.
"It does not give the Palestinians a right to their future in Gaza, nor does it stop Israeli aggression," Abdel Halim explained. "Israel cannot achieve the goals it announced at the beginning of the war in the Strip; internally it has a mess of confusion, disarray and disagreement between camps in the Israeli government and military establishment on how to end the war."
He added that while Israel wants to destroy Hamas, get rid of it and expel it from the Palestinian territories, it does not realize that "this is impossible because of the resilience of our people and the strength of the resistance."

"Against this backdrop, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is not giving up trying to promote a temporary deal like the previous ones we rejected, and he is doing it to get rid of the image of a loser. But he still has a bad future ahead of him, and he will be questioned and held accountable at home," the representative concluded.

Earlier, the media reported that Egypt had presented Israel and Hamas with its proposal for ending the war in Gaza and for a post-conflict settlement.
Israel Does Not Have 'Any Concern' or 'Respect' for Civilians, Expert on Gaza-Ukraine Comparison
On October 7, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, while its fighters breached the border and opened fire on the military and civilians. As a result, over 1,200 people were killed in Israel and some 240 others abducted.
Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and launched a ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave with the stated aim of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. More than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza so far as a result of the Israeli attacks, local authorities said.
On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas for a temporary ceasefire and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1.