GAZA CITY
The current Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip had come short of achieving its goals, the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said Saturday.
"The heroism of the resistance has managed to do away with the prestige of Israel's deterrence power," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.
Palestinian resistance factions said earlier in the day that they had managed to fire missiles and charges on Israeli troops staging the incursion into Gaza's eastern and northern borders.
The resistance factions said they carried out this operation in response to what they described as "Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people".
At least 339 people have been killed and nearly 2390 injured in relentless Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials.
Since July 7, Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip, home to some 1.8 million Palestinians, with crippling air and naval bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire emanating from the strip.
On Thursday night, Israel stepped up its offensive to include ground operations, sending troops into the embattled coastal enclave.
Israel's military operation, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against Gaza in the last six years.
By Ola Attalah
www.aa.com.tr/en
