What did Abu Ubaida say in his first video after the end of the Gaza truce?

The spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, Abu Ubaida, appeared in an audio recording, after two weeks of his absence, announcing that the brigades had managed to destroy 180 Israeli military vehicles, since the end of the temporary truce 10 days ago.

Israeli reports had indicated that the absence of the official spokesman for Al-Qassam may be due to his injury or death during the ongoing war in Gaza.

Abu Ubaida stated in the audio recording that it was recorded on the 65th day of the war, and the 10th after the end of the humanitarian truce.

• Al-Qassam fighters were able to destroy 180 Israeli military vehicles, completely or partially, within 10 days. These vehicles varied between tanks, troop carriers, and bulldozers.

• Al-Qassam fighters confronted the Israeli forces on the front lines before the temporary truce borders, or those forces that penetrated new fronts, in the north, center and south of the Gaza Strip.

• Al-Qassam fighters attacked Israeli vehicles with “Al-Yassin 105” anti-armor shells, “Tandum” shells, “Shawaz” bombs, and “Guerilla Action” devices.

• Carrying out a large number of specific operations against the invading Israeli forces outside the vehicles, which varied between attacking foot forces outside buildings with anti-fortified shells, setting up ambushes, attacking foot patrols with explosive devices, and raiding them from zero distance with machine guns.

• Al-Qassam fighters carried out dozens of sniping operations, detonating minefields, booby-trapping mine nozzles, and trapping them in pre-prepared traps. These operations resulted in a large number of deaths and injuries among Israeli forces.

• The artillery force continues to target crowds of Israeli forces in all areas of its incursion into and around the Gaza Strip with dozens of mortar shells and the short-range “Rajum” system.

•   The brigades bombed areas around Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and even Tel Aviv with dozens of missiles and different ranges.

• What the Israeli forces achieve is indiscriminate destruction, killing.

• Israel failed in the north and south of the Gaza Strip, and it will fail more and more as its war in the Strip continues.

• The temporary truce proved the truth of what we were announcing at the beginning, and in return, the enemy’s leadership and spokespeople lied, as his prisoners would not be released except with the conditional release that we announced at the beginning of the battle.

• Israel will not be able to take its prisoners alive without negotiation, as was proven by the operation that Israel carried out a few days ago to free one of its prisoners (the operation led to his death).

Budget deficit

On the other hand, the Israeli Ministry of Finance said that Israel recorded a budget deficit of 16.6 billion shekels ($4.5 billion) in November, noting that this jump in costs was due to financing the two-month-long war against the Hamas movement in Gaza.

She added that as a percentage of GDP, the deficit rose over the previous twelve months to 3.4% in November from 2.6% in October.