The Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas has declared that the Israeli occupation is suffering mounting strategic and moral defeats in its ongoing assault on Gaza, asserting that the only path remaining for “Israel” to secure the release of its captives is through a prisoner exchange deal dictated by the Resistance.

In a powerful statement released Friday, Hamas described the war as “a mirror of the occupation’s failure on all fronts,” framing the battle as a historic turning point in the Palestinian struggle for freedom. The statement emphasized that Israel’s continuing onslaught — marked by massacres, starvation, and collective punishment — has only served to expose the occupation’s weakness and accelerate its moral and strategic collapse.

“The occupying regime is spiraling in confusion and retreat,” the movement declared, underscoring the increasing effectiveness of Resistance fighters who continue to carry out surprise operations and inflict losses on Israeli forces despite the brutal siege.

“The Resistance has taken the initiative. It is not only enduring — it is dictating the course of the battle,” the statement said. “All attempts by the Zionist enemy to break the will of our people through starvation, siege, and mass murder have failed.”

Hamas declared unequivocally that “Israel” will not recover its captives without first agreeing to a Resistance-led exchange deal that upholds Palestinian rights and human dignity. Any such deal, the group said, must include the complete lifting of the siege on Gaza and the end of the policy of starvation and collective punishment — which it described as a deliberate war crime.

“The enemy now has no choice but to accept the conditions of the Resistance,” Hamas stated. “Only then can it hope to see its prisoners return.”

The statement also addressed the intensifying humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, accusing the Israeli occupation of imposing famine as a method of subjugation and extermination.

“This is a crime against humanity being carried out in plain sight,” Hamas warned. “Using food as a weapon of war is a heinous tactic aimed at breaking the steadfastness of our people — but they have not, and will not, surrender.”

With over 2.3 million Palestinians enduring catastrophic levels of hunger, disease, and displacement, the movement called for urgent international mobilization — both from governments and popular movements — to end what it called a genocide unfolding under the eyes of the world.

As Israeli bombardment intensifies across Gaza, including deadly strikes on civilians waiting in food distribution lines, the siege remains unrelenting. Hamas accused the occupying entity of committing genocide through both bombs and starvation.

The Resistance reiterated that the Palestinian people remain unbowed in the face of this barbarism, and that the steadfastness of Gaza’s population continues to be the foundation upon which final victory will be built. (ILKHA)