GAZA (Dispatches) – The armed wing of the
Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has launched a military exercise in the Gaza Strip blockaded by the Zionist regime.
According to an announcement by the Brigades, the drill, dubbed “Shield of Al-Quds,” began on Wednesday morning to “raise combat readiness and simulate different scenarios.”
The maneuver, it added, is part of a series of continuous military exercises simulating various forms of combat operations.
Al-Qassam Brigades further advised that explosions and shooting may be heard in some Gaza areas during the drill.
On Tuesday, Hamas leader Muhammad Abu Askar said the military exercise, which takes place in northern and southern Gaza, marks the 34th anniversary of Hamas’ foundation.
The drill will “send a message to the enemy that the resistance is ready in case they think of doing something foolish in the Gaza strip,” he emphasized.
Gaza has been under a land, air and sea blockade by the Zionist regime since June 2007, which has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.
The occupying regime maintains a heavy naval presence off the coast of the impoverished Palestinian enclave, severely affecting the livelihood of fishermen.
The regime also launches bloody bombing campaigns on Gaza, the latest of which occurred in May, with the Palestinian resistance factions firing more than 4,000 rockets towards the occupied lands during the 11-day war.
Apparently caught off guard by unprecedented rocket barrages, the occupying regime announced a unilateral ceasefire, which the resistance groups accepted with Egyptian mediation.
In another development, head of Hamas’ foreign political bureau Khaled Meshaal said there are ongoing efforts to release Palestinian detainees being held in Saudi Arabia, according to the Palestinian Information Center.
Speaking to TRT Arabi, Mishaal said that his movement seeks through the current Arab-Arab and Arab-Muslim rapprochement to find a fair solution to the issue of its detainees in Saudi Arabia.
He also urged the Saudi leadership to order their release because they did not harm or offend the kingdom in which they have lived, served and shown loyalty.
“They were working for their cause according to the law and under the roof of the state, without offending anyone,” he said.
In 2019, more than 60 Palestinians and Jordanians residing in the kingdom were arrested by the Saudi state security apparatus under the pretext of financially supporting Palestinian factions.