Senior Hamas official Ezzat al-Resheq has issued a powerful response to renewed Israeli threats to expand its brutal war on the besieged Gaza Strip, warning that any further aggression will be met with a decisive and intensified reaction from the Palestinian resistance.

“You threaten escalation? What remains that you haven’t already done?” Resheq said in a defiant statement on Friday. “You have slaughtered civilians, imposed starvation, destroyed homes and lives—yet Gaza stands unbroken.”

The statement comes amid reports from Hebrew media that Israel’s security cabinet has approved a new plan to escalate its military campaign, including the mobilization of thousands of exhausted reserve forces. This decision, despite the unprecedented devastation already inflicted on Gaza, signals Tel Aviv’s continued refusal to pursue peace and its insistence on deepening its genocidal war.

Resheq made it clear that the Palestinian resistance is prepared for any further incursion: “Any attempt to expand the military operation will only drag you deeper into the quagmire. Our fighters await you.”

He further emphasized that if the occupation continues its crimes, the resistance will expand its operations accordingly: “Escalating the aggression will compel us to broaden our targets and intensify our strikes.”

Rejecting Israeli efforts to impose terms on the release of captives, Resheq affirmed that any prisoner exchange can only be achieved through a deal that includes a permanent cessation of hostilities and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The Israeli occupation has waged a relentless campaign of extermination against the people of Gaza since October 7, 2023—killing tens of thousands, displacing over 2 million, and plunging the Strip into a man-made famine. Despite these atrocities, the spirit of Palestinian steadfastness and resistance remains unshaken.

As Israel continues its desperate bid to reassert military control, the Palestinian resistance reiterates that the only path to stability and justice lies in ending the aggression, lifting the siege, and restoring the full rights of the Palestinian people. (ILKHA)