Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, stated that the Israeli military would pay a hefty price for its plans to occupy Gaza City with the blood of its soldiers, which would also increase the chances of more troops being captured.

In a post on Telegram on Friday, Abu Obeida warned that these plans to occupy Gaza would spell disaster for "Israel" on both the political and military levels. The military spokesperson further emphasized that the al-Qassam freedom fighters are fully prepared, maintaining high morale, and ready to demonstrate extraordinary examples of heroism and steadfastness, teaching the invaders a harsh lesson.

He stated that "the war criminals, Netanyahu and his Nazi ministers, have deliberately and insistently decided to reduce the number of living prisoners by half and to make the bodies of most of their captured dead disappear forever, for which the enemy's army and its terrorist government will bear full responsibility."

We will preserve every captive as much as we can: Abu Obeidah

Abu Obeidah announced that they would preserve the lives of the enemy's captives "to the best of our ability," adding that "they will be with our freedom fighters in the combat and confrontation zones under the same conditions" and vowing to announce the name, photo, and proof of death for every captive killed by the aggression.

The spokesperson's statement comes after the Israeli occupation army declared Gaza City a "dangerous combat zone" that is not included in the "tactical pause in fighting," yet it has so far issued no evacuation orders or called for new displacements, amid Israeli preparations for a large-scale military operation there.

Palestinian Resistance strikes Merkavas in Jabalia

In parallel, the Palestinian Resistance continues its operations and the execution of ambushes against Israeli forces deep inside various combat axes across the Gaza Strip, inflicting human and material losses on the Israeli occupation forces despite the ongoing aggression and siege.

On Thursday, the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that its fighters targeted an Israeli Merkava tank and an armored personnel carrier with al-Yassin 105mm shells in the center of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.

In another operation, the al-Qassam Brigades reported that its fighters used high-explosive improvised explosive devices to destroy two Israeli Merkava tanks on Monday and Tuesday in eastern and central Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Brigades also confirmed that, in a joint operation with the al-Quds Brigades last Tuesday, their fighters successfully targeted an Israeli Eitan armored personnel carrier with a guided Kornet anti-tank guided missile, achieving a direct hit east of Gaza City's al-Zaytoun district. The brigades noted that their fighters spotted Israeli helicopters landing at the site to evacuate the dead and wounded.

Separately, the Martyr Omar Qassim Forces, the military wing of the Democratic Front, announced that on August 18, its fighters detonated a pre-planted explosive device against an Israeli armored personnel carrier in the al-Zaytoun district of southern Gaza City.