CAIRO, December 8. /TASS/. Armed resistance to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip constitutes the legal right of the Palestinian people to self-defense and the defense of their land, the radical Palestinian movement Hamas said in a statement on the occasion of the anniversary of the First Intifada of 1987.

"Resistance to the Israeli army in Gaza is the legal right of the Palestinian people to defend itself, its land and holy places and continues Palestinians’ intifada against the [Israeli] occupation," the statement says. The ongoing armed confrontation in the Gaza Strip is geared to "resist [Israel’s] aggression and thwart its plans to jewify Palestinian lands."

According to Hamas, Israel’s ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip is failing to reach any goals. "Over more than two months of aggression unleashed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, the occupational forces have failed to reach any results or achieve any goals in the face of Palestinians resistance’s strength," it said.

Hamas has confirmed its refusal "from any plans for the normalization and settlement of relations with the occupational regime, which poses a real threat to security and stability in the entire world." It called on Arab and Islamic countries "to continue the movement of solidarity with the Gaza Strip, to support Palestine’s fair cause and the Palestinians’ right to self-determination by means of establishing an independent Palestinian state with a capital in Jerusalem."

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.