Hamas is ready to fight a long war with Israel and will use the dozens of hostages being held in Gaza to secure the release of Palestinians detained in Israel and overseas, a senior member of the militant group has said.
Speaking to the Associated Press news agency, Ali Barakeh, a member of the group’s exiled leadership in Beirut, said that Hamas has an arsenal of rockets that will last a long time.
“We have prepared well for this war and to deal with all scenarios, even the scenario of the long war,” he said, adding that Hamas would use hostages to secure the release of people detained in Israeli jails and even some Palestinians imprisoned in the United States.
His comments came as concerns grew about the fate of more than 100 individuals held by militants in Gaza. On Monday Hamas threatened to start executing its hostages if Israel carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip without prior warning to residents.
Palestinian militants abducted more than 100 people during a surprise multi-front attack in which they killed more than 700 – making Saturday the deadliest day in Israel’s history. Israeli media said on Monday the death toll had climbed to 900.
In response to the attack, Israel has launched strikes from the air and sea, which medics said had killed more than 680 Palestinians in Gaza, an area home to 2.3 million people with nowhere to flee. Israel has since declared a “complete siege” of Gaza, cutting off water, food and power supplies.
Israel formally declared war on Sunday and called up 300,000 reservists for duty, signalling a possible ground assault into Gaza – a move that in the past has always brought further bloodshed. However, Israeli forces face the unprecedented task of fighting an urban war while dozens of hostages are likely to be hidden in tunnels and basements across the Gaza Strip.
In his interview with the Associated Press, Barakeh said that only a small number of top commanders inside Gaza knew about Saturday’s incursion into Israel and that even the group’s closest allies were not informed in advance about the timing. He denied reports that Iranian security officials helped plan the attack.
However, he added that allies like Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah “will join the battle if Gaza is subjected to a war of annihilation.”
He said even Hamas was shocked by the extent of the operation, saying it had expected Israel to prevent or limit the attack. “We were surprised by this great collapse,” Barakeh said. “We were planning to make some gains and take prisoners to exchange them. This army was a paper tiger.”
On Monday, Qatar’s foreign ministry said it was in mediation talks with Hamas and Israeli officials, including over a possible prisoner swap. Neither Israel nor Hamas confirmed they were talking. A Hamas official based in Doha said the group was not open to negotiating a prisoner exchange with Israel during hostilities.
In a joint statement on Monday night, Joe Biden, the US president; Rishi Sunak, the UK prime miniser; Emmanuel Macron, the French president; the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz; and the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, promised their “steadfast and united support to the state of Israel, and our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism”.
They said: “We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned. There is never any justification for terrorism.”
In a televised address late on Monday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “eliminate terrorists” still present in Israel and thanked the US for its “unequivocal support”.
The World Health Organization said there had been a total of 11 attacks on health care sites – which included medical facilities, ambulances and care providers – in the first 36 hours of the new conflict in Gaza.
“There is an urgent need to establish a humanitarian corridor for unimpeded, life-saving patient referrals and movement of humanitarian personnel and essential health supplies,” the WHO said.
The US confirmed that the first in a batch of military aid was “making its way” to Israel.
“We fully expect there will be additional requests for security assistance for Israel as they continue to expend munitions in this fight,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said. “We will stay in lockstep with them, making sure that we’re filling their needs as best we can and as fast as we can.”
The US has not yet detailed the extent of Israel’s requests for security assistance, but a defence official told the Associated Press that Washington would expedite pending Israeli orders and look to the US military’s own stockpiles to help fill Israeli gaps.
The official also appeared to dismiss concerns that the United States might struggle to supply Israel at the same time as funnelling weaponry to Ukraine.
“We are able to continue our support both to Ukraine, to Israel, and maintain our own global readiness,” the official said.
Also on Monday, a senior Defense Department official warned that the US is closely watching Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups, noting that the decision to shift American ships in the region was to deter any of them from entering or expanding the conflict against Israel.
Israel said its forces had fought off gunmen crossing from Lebanon on Monday. Israel responded to the infiltration attempt by carrying out helicopter strikes on Lebanese territory, which were reported to have killed at least three member of the powerful Hezbollah group. If Hezbollah, which has fought conflicts with Israel to devastating effect, were to further enter the war, Israel could be fighting on two fronts.
Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report