Gaza, July 1 (IANS) Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), has released a video showing its members preparing explosive devices for use against Israeli military vehicles that penetrate Gaza Strip cities.
The 40-second video showed the group’s members painting the devices and placing them in portable bags inside a covered area with black cloth inscribed with the phrases: “He who seeks my demise is chasing a mirage” and “(Operation) Al-Aqsa Flood”.
Al-Qassam also announced the use of the “Fedayeen Operations” device for the first time during the ongoing war with Israeli forces in Gaza since last October, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.
This came as both Al-Qassam and the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, claimed on Sunday targeting Israeli vehicles and soldiers in the Shujaiya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City and the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in the south of the city.
Al-Qassam said in a statement that its members “destroyed an Israeli Namer APC (armoured personnel carrier) with a Yassin 105 rocket, killing and injuring its crew” south of Tal al-Hawa.
In a separate statement, the brigades mentioned that its members also targeted “a Shezaret APC and a D9 military bulldozer” in Tal al-Hawa.
In addition, it said in another press release that its members “targeted the gathering of Israeli forces in Shujaiya with mortar shells”.
The Al-Quds Brigades announced in a statement that its members are “engaged in fierce clashes” with Israeli soldiers using machine guns and anti-personnel weapons east of Shujaiya.
The brigades mentioned in a separate statement that its members “bombarded Israeli army gatherings” in the Shujaiya neighbourhood “with a barrage of mortar shells”.
Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.
–IANS
int/khz