GAZA, Palestine

The Palestinian group Hamas’s armed wing announced Wednesday that they had documented their destruction of 136 Israeli military vehicles since Israel’s ground operation started in Gaza.

Spokesman Abu Ubaida, in a speech broadcast on Al-Aqsa TV, a channel affiliated with Hamas, said: “We have documented the destruction of 136 Israeli military vehicles, either completely or partially, since the start of the Israeli ground operation.”

“The enemy (Israel) is obstructing the release of our foreign detainees by intensifying airstrikes and committing massacres, as they impeded the release of 12 of them just a few days ago,” it added.

On possible prisoner exchanges, he said: “Our sole approach is a comprehensive agreement to exchange prisoners, whether in their entirety or in part, or group by group. We have female prisoners, elderly individuals, and those in poor health in the occupation's prisons, just as they have prisoners from similar categories.”

During its Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on Oct. 7, Hamas captured around 242 Israelis for potential exchanges in return for approximately 6,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, according to official statistics.

In protest, families of the Israeli prisoners have demanded the immediate return of their loved ones, often voicing anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Abu Ubaida added: “Despite the massacres and savage bombings, we maneuver and engage with the Israeli enemy at point-blank range.”

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala