Islamic Jihad Says Ready to Respond to Any Israeli Escalation in Gaza

In a statement on Wednesday, the resistance group censured Israel's illegal activities in the occupied territories and its blockade on the Gaza Strip, presstv reported.

The Gaza-based movement further highlighted its military capabilities to confront the Tel Aviv regime's aggression.

The Palestinian group emphasized that it would not give up its efforts to develop its military capabilities despite all restrictions and siege.

"We will not give up our arms and are fully ready to respond to any aggression," the statement said.

It further reiterated its commitment to break the "unjust" blockade on Gaza, which is under the relentless aggression and act of terror by the Tel Aviv regime.

The resistance group further warned Israel against dire consequences that the continued delay in implementing an earlier agreement related to breaking the Gaza siege would have.

The continued delay in implementing the conditions related to ending and breaking the siege would lead to an "explosion" for which the occupation would bear full responsibility, the statement said.

The statement came amid reported ceasefire efforts being brokered by Egypt.

The coastal sliver, home to some two million people, has been under an Israeli-imposed crippling siege since June 2007, which has caused a decline in the living standards as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty there.

Israel has also launched three major wars against the enclave since 2008, killing thousands of Gazans each time and shattering the impoverished territory’s already poor infrastructure.

For the past several weeks, the Israeli war machine has been pounding different areas of Gaza either by its warplanes or through artillery fire, claiming that the attacks were mainly in response to incendiary balloons sent by Gazans to cause bush fire in the southern parts of the occupied territories.