The Palestinian people today commemorate the 12th anniversary of the first war launched by the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, which began with extensive raids on many civilian targets and Palestinian police stations, resulting in hundreds of martyrs and wounded.
The war, which began on 27 December 2018, lasted for 22 days, during which approximately 1,420 Palestinians were killed, more than 8,000 homes were completely and partially destroyed and more than half a million Palestinians were displaced.
According to the international report of Judge Richard Goldstone, in this major aggression, the occupying army committed war crimes against civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip for nearly 15 years.
On this occasion, Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanaa said that "12 years ago, the Palestinian people were subjected to the most violent Zionist air strike since 1967 by the occupying aircraft in a barbaric aggression against the Gaza Strip."
In a statement, he warned that the "Battle of Al-Furqan", the name given by the resistance to this Israeli aggression, "painted the scene of the legendary steadfastness of our Palestinian people, and reflected the bloody occupation and its criminal leaders."
"The occupation thought that with a large-scale air strike targeting our people and their capabilities, they will win the battle in the first moment and achieve what they want, but they failed and did not achieve any of their goals," he said.
He added: "The occupation was surprised by the hardness of our people and the valor of the Palestinian resistance, which was able to face the occupation and continue to defend our people."
"After 12 years, the Palestinian resistance has become more difficult, solid and more steadfast, and any battle the occupation is fighting with the resistance will lose and will not achieve its goal," he said.
As for the Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza, whose headquarters and members were deliberately and violently targeted, a tragic bloody scene shows the scattering of the remains of martyrs and wounded on large areas where they were located.
On this occasion, she said in a statement: "Today we stand again in the face of this epic and heroism, which our people embodied for 22 days, in which he presented the finest images of sacrifice, giving and steadfastness, without retreating or surrendering to the occupation and the machine of its aggression and brutal war."
"The blood of children, women and the elderly mingled with the resistance, the security forces and the police, and the bodies were scattered in every street and square," she said.
She warned that "the Ministry of Interior, with its security, police and service agencies, was the primary target of the aggression, destroying all security and police headquarters, and hundreds of members of the ministry rose in the first minutes of the aggression, in a clear quest by the occupation to spread chaos and destroy the home front, to achieve its criminal objectives in undermining our people and their valiant resistance."
The ministry praised "the spirit of heroism embodied in the people of the ministry as well as all our people, which the occupation did not calculate for it, and the ministry provided a model in confronting the aggression with valor, and to heal its wounds, and formed a safety valve for our people, and for our internal front and stability."
Interior Minister Said Siam, Police Chief Maj. Gen. Tawfiq Jabr and Security and Protection Service Commander Colonel Ismail Jabr, along with hundreds of officers and soldiers, were martyred in the attack.
Despite the difficult circumstances in the Gaza Strip due to the blockade and the Corona pandemic, the Interior Ministry stressed that it is "exerting all its energies, harnessing all its potential to protect our people and preserve their lives".
"What the occupation failed to achieve 12 years ago with aggression, murder and destruction will continue to be unable to achieve by all despicable means whatsoever, and the security and police agencies are vigilant and continue to work in all directions to maintain the security and stability situation," she said in a statement.
"The security and police agencies are now more capable and ready to deal with all challenges and serve our people under all circumstances," she said, stressing that they "will continue to do their duty to maintain security and stability for our people, no matter how great the burdens and sacrifices, and will remain loyal to their giving people, and will continue to support them on the path of their struggle to achieve their freedom and independence, and to establish their state and capital of Jerusalem."
