Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, called on Tuesday for continued attacks on Israel in his first video message in more than six weeks, marking the 200th anniversary of the war between Israel and Hamas.

In the video clip, which is about twenty minutes long, Abu Ubaida said: “We will continue to attack the enemy with various techniques as long as the aggression on our land continues.” He added that Hamas fighters "will continue to go out to fight the enemy."

The Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman criticized Israel's role in the hostage release and ceasefire negotiations, saying that Israel is "trying to evade all its promises" and wants to "buy more time," Abu Ubaida said in the televised statement. Israel and the United States accused Hamas of obstructing the negotiations by making unreasonable demands.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement last Sunday that Israel will soon increase “military and political” pressure on Hamas to free the hostages. Abu Ubaida said in his speech, on Tuesday, that “so-called military pressure only strengthens our position.”

Abu Ubaida praised the unprecedented Iranian strikes on Israel at the beginning of this month, and said that “Iran’s response, in its size and nature, established new rules and confused the enemy’s calculations,” as he described it.

Iran launched a large-scale drone and missile attack on Israel in response to a suspected Israeli raid on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria. The Israeli army said that 99% of more than 300 shells fired from Iran were intercepted.

Abu Ubaida also praised Iranian-backed regional proxies in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. Tehran is believed to support, but not fully control, its proxies, including the powerful Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.