IDF forces find Hamas terror tunnel (file)
IDF forces find Hamas terror tunnel (file)Flash 90

Hamas spokesperson Mushir Al-Masri said on Thursday night that his terrorist organization, despite returning to truce talks with Israel in Cairo in the last week of October, still remains fully committed to armed conflict.

"The 'resistance' is the basis for the clash with Israel. Only through the 'resistance' can victory and liberation (i.e. the occupation of Israel by Hamas - ed.) be accomplished," Al-Masri told the Hamas journal Al-Risala in Gaza, reports Walla!.

The spokesperson continued by saying "there is no doubt that Gaza succeeded in achieving victory by the nation standing firm and the courage of the 'resistance,' which surprised the enemy on land, sea and air."

Al-Masri concluded with a troubling pronouncement, saying "the enemy did not succeed in stopping the rocket fire, and also didn't succeed in destroying the military tunnels."

The latter reference to tunnels, if true, would seem to confirm concerns that while the IDF destroyed all of the terror tunnels leading into Israel that it found, which numbered over 30, others may remain hidden and unknown.

The statement also may refer to numerous reports indicating that Hamas's "military wing," the Al-Qassam Brigades, as well as the Islamic Jihad terror group, have already restarted construction on the terror tunnels. In fact, video evidence shows that the renewed digging of the tunnels started even minutes after the ceasefire on November 26.

Despite the pledge to continue armed conflict and the lingering threat of tunnel attacks targeting Israeli civilians, Israel confirmed it has allowed 500 residents of Gaza to pray on the Temple Mount - something Jews are forbidden from doing by the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic trust) - this Saturday for Eid al-Adha, which celebrates Abraham's "sacrifice of Ishmael" in an appropriation of the original Torah story.

Al-Masri also hinted strongly several days ago that his group may be on the verge of sealing a terrorist swap deal with Israel, which would see hundreds of jailed terrorists released in exchange for the bodies of fallen soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul hy"d.