Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the Gaza Strip to commemorate the martyrs of the recent aggression by the occupying Israeli entity, vowing to persist in their resistance against the occupation.
The demonstration took place in Gaza City as a tribute to the more than 30 Palestinians who lost their lives during the entity's relentless airstrikes on the coastal territory earlier this month.
The Israeli entity initiated a series of deadly bombings on May 9, prompting the Islamic Jihad, a resistance group based in Gaza, to retaliate by launching over 1,000 rockets towards the occupied territories. This conflict marked the most intense episode of fighting between Gaza's resistance factions and the Israeli entity since the 10-day war imposed on the blockaded territory in 2021. After five days of hostilities, a ceasefire brokered by Egypt came into effect on Saturday night.
During the Friday commemoration event, Khaled Al-Batsh, the leader of Islamic Jihad, paid tribute to the group's commanders who were killed in targeted assassination operations carried out by the Israeli forces during the recent onslaught. Al-Batsh stated, "Today, Islamic Jihad holds this ceremony to honor its martyrs and leaders, including Khalil Al-Bahtini, Jihad Ghannam, Tareq Ezzedine, Khadder Adnan, Ali Ghali, Ahmed Abu Dakka, Eyad Al Hasani, and all the martyrs of our people."
He further conveyed a powerful message, saying, "We want to convey to the entire world that despite the F-16 airstrikes and the barrage of rockets fired upon us, our nation is still resilient and will continue its resistance. We assert our right to freedom.
From the blood of our martyrs, we draw strength to confront the Zionists. We will persist in our struggle."