A rocket is fired from a Hamas position towards Israeli troops near Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters handout

Ahead of a pause in fighting scheduled to begin on Thursday morning to enable the release of hostages seized by Hamas during its Oct. 7 pogrom in southern Israel, the terrorist group has emphasized its continuing commitment to waging war against the Jewish state.

“As we announce the reaching of the truce agreement, we affirm that our hands will remain on the trigger, and our victorious brigades will remain on the lookout to defend our people and defeat the occupation and aggression,” Hamas said in a statement published on Wednesday by the Iranian regime’s official news agency, IRNA.

The statement added that the agreement instituting a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israeli jails reflected “the vision of the resistance and its determinants.” Hamas had engaged in negotiations “from a position of steadfastness and strength in the field, despite the occupation’s attempts to prolong and procrastinate the negotiations.”

Under the terms of the agreement, a four-day pause in fighting will be accompanied by the release of 50 of the more than 240 hostages in Hamas captivity in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli officials who briefed journalists in Jerusalem on Wednesday said the 50 hostages to be freed were principally mothers, women, and children who would be released in groups of 12 or 13 over a period of four days. For every 10 additional hostages that Hamas releases, Israel will agree to extend the ceasefire by one day.

Media coverage of the deal in Iran — the main backer of Hamas — was overshadowed by reporting of a speech made by the regime’s “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, celebrating the Oct. 7 pogrom as a “knockout blow to the usurping Zionists.”

Addressing a group of Iranian athletes, Khamenei attempted a quip, saying, “If I am going to offer you a breakdown on the recent developments, it goes that the Zionist regime was knocked out in Al-Aqsa Storm,” the name chosen by Hamas for its onslaught.

He then repeated his well-worn prediction that Israel will eventually be eliminated as a sovereign state, irrespective of its military response to Hamas.

“There is nothing more ignominious than what the Zionist regime has perpetrated. The Zionist regime’s heavy defeat will not be compensated by these bombings; such bombardment campaigns will only shorten the life of the occupying regime and this tyranny and cruelty will not go unanswered,” Khamenei declared.