Published Monday, September 29, 2014
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Monday that Palestinian resistance group Hamas was down to only 20 percent of its original rocket arsenal following Israel's recent seven-week military onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
Speaking at Bar IIan University, Ya'alon said that only 20 percent of the Gaza Strip's 10,000-rocket inventory remained intact following Israel's devastating "Operation Protective Edge."
He claimed that 40 senior Hamas leaders and ten Islamic Jihad leaders had been killed in Israel's recent military offensive.
Ya'alon also asserted that Israel had "won" the conflict with Hamas, which, he claimed, had been forced to accept Israel's conditions for a cease-fire.
However, a poll conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, found that the large majority of Palestinians believe that the resistance movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, won the war.
As a result, according to the poll, 79% of respondents said that Hamas had won the Gaza war, while only 3% believe Israel did. Some 17% said both sides lost.
Palestinian factions and Israel signed an open-ended cease-fire agreement on August 26, ending the self-proclaimed Zionist state's 51-day offensive against the coastal enclave.
Over the course of Israel's onslaught, more 2,150 Palestinians were killed – mostly civilians – and some 11,000 others injured.
Over the course of Israel's onslaught, more 2,150 Palestinians were killed – mostly civilians – and some 11,000 others injured.
Under the truce deal, Israel must lift the blockade it has imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2007 and must also reopen the border crossings into the besieged Palestinian territory.
(Anadolu, Al-Akhbar)
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