Israel and Hamas Both Claim Victory

Carrie Dedrick | Updated: Aug 28, 2014

Israel and Hamas Both Claim Victory

After seven weeks of fighting, the conflict between Israel and Hamas has reached a lasting halt. Now both sides of the conflict have claimed victory. 

Euro News reports Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was seen for the first time in weeks at a rally after the indefinite ceasefire went into effect. He said to thousands of Gaza citizens, “During the 51 days of war, the al-Qassam and the resistance had the upper hand. They started the war by firing their rockets on Haifa and ended the war by a strike on Haifa.” 

At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was on the winning side of the conflict. Although, after the ceasefire has held for over 24 hours, the prime minister has warned that Israel Defense Forces would still retaliate if Hamas launched missiles again. 

“I take this opportunity to say that if it resumes fire, we will not tolerate a sprinkle of shooting at any part of Israel, what we did in response now, we will respond even more vigorously,” Netanyahu said. 

Israel and Hamas left many issues unresolved, which has led many to speculate that the over 2,000 lives lost were a far too hefty debt. Alex Fishman for the Yediot Ahronot newspaper wrote, “Both sides did not exactly want this campaign, both sides made all possible errors dragging them into it, and both sides find themselves today returning to square one, where they were at the start of the warfare.”

Publication date: August 28, 2014



Israel and Hamas Both Claim Victory