Lions of al-Muntar: After deadly ambushes in the south, Hamas strikes Israelis in the north

Nowhere is safe for the Israelis in Gaza.

After releasing a tonne of footage showcasing successful operations in the south of the Gaza Strip under the name Gates of Hell (Parts 1, 2, and 3), Hamas released a video last Thursday of a stunning ambush in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood in the north of the besieged enclave.

In the operation named the Lions of al-Muntar, Hamas’s military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, explains, “Enemy soldiers and vehicles were targeted in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, on April 25.”

This video is markedly different from all the other Qassam battlefield videos so far due to its use of animation to explain some of the action that took place in the ambush but wasn’t captured on film. Maintaining their ability to monitor Israeli troop movements, the Qassam fighters spotted the genocidal troops setting up inside a civilian home and eliminated them at close range before attacking the reinforcements. There was also a sniper operation, which, as one fighter explains, targeted “one of the pigs in the head, blowing up his helmet.”

Here is how the Qassam fighter explains what transpires in the Lions of al-Muntar:

They advanced at night and infiltrated one of the houses in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood. Thanks to Almighty Allah and the vigilance of the fighters, they detected this infiltration and ambushed them, opening fire from point-blank range and eliminating two soldiers. After that, military reinforcements arrived from the Nahal Oz site and the newly established hill site. Our fighters cut off the reinforcements by directly targeting several vehicles and soldiers. And thanks to Allah, Blessed and Exalted, a sniper operation was carried out from one of the houses, targeting one of the pigs in the head, blowing up his helmet. Allah is the Greatest, and praise be to Allah.

Towards the end of the video, Qassam shows the pictures of two Israelis whose deaths in Shuja’iyya were acknowledged by the Zionist press. The two belonged to the Musta’ribeen unit of the Israeli military. It is an elite undercover unit whose agents undergo extensive training to learn Arab/Palestinian mannerisms and language nuances, disguise themselves as Arabs or Palestinians, and infiltrate protests and society at large to carry out their operations.

This appears to be the first time that the Musta’ribeen unit’s fatalities have been confirmed by the Israeli military since October 7 in Gaza. The circumstances of their deployment have not been made clear as of yet in the Israeli press.

Their fate, however, shows the challenge the Shuja’iyya units of the resistance have posed for the Israelis. This is the third time the Israelis have invaded the neighbourhood in the north of Gaza and this is the third time that they are taking heavy losses without being able to get a foothold in the territory.

The first time the Israelis attempted an incursion into Gaza was in early December 2023. By December 21, the perpetually lying genocidal Israeli army claimed it had “operational control” of Shuja’iyya. Five days later, they withdrew from the territory, declaring a win over the local Hamas battalion — only to endure consistent resistance every time they attempted to carry out operations in the territory, as well as rocket fire that regularly hit the surrounding settlements in the so-called Gaza Envelope.

A day after the Israeli withdrawal, Al-Qassam on December 27 released one of the most remarkable videos of the then-nascent war. It showed unparalleled marksmanship, bravery, and tactical nous as the native fighters deftly used the scorched terrain to conceal themselves while raining terror on the invading terrorists.

Through the video, Al-Qassam also gave an exclusive glimpse of the way its operations are coordinated and documented. Around the 1:52 mark, using a secure communication line, a fighter says, “After they pass by us, we will give you information, God willing. We will tell you they passed by. You send the scout, and then the shooter, his support, and the cameraman. You will execute your strike and return, God willing.”

As the strike is being prepared, the cameraman says, “Here they are. Look at the one on the top floor. Wait for them to increase in number.” Then, as the Yassin 105 shell is fired, the fighters say, “They ate it.”

That Israeli ground invasion also saw a complex ambush on December 12 in which Al-Qassam fighters disguised themselves in the uniforms of the occupation forces and armed with M16 rifles, confusing the enemy. They then trapped a Zionist force as it entered a building and detonated pre-planted explosives. After contact was lost with four soldiers, another Zionist force advanced and was immediately greeted with heavy fire, leading to the immediate death of two more soldiers.

Over three hours, other Zionist forces advanced; violent clashes ensued, and the Zionists were eliminated in clashes or ambushes, resulting in the deaths of the remainder, including the lieutenant colonel.

The Israeli press reported seven fatalities that day.

Six months after declaring “operational control” in Shuja’iyya, the Israelis were back in the territory on June 27, 2024, thus starting the Second Battle of Shuja’iyya. On July 10, they withdrew again while Al-Qassam fighters remained firmly entrenched in their position despite losing their commander, Ayman Showadeh.

Once again, a day after the Israeli withdrawal, Al-Qassam published another of its masterpieces. The over six-minute-long video showed operations classified by the type of weapons used by the fighters — from buried explosives to Yassin 105s and TBG shells — and direct clashes with the invading Israelis.

In the video, Al-Qassam gave a brief glimpse into the life of fighters on the battlefield, in a segment titled Part of the life of the fighters, which starts at 3:42 in the video.

Here is what the fighters say:

“Of course, in front of us are Jews, and behind us are Jews, and to our left are Jews, and to our right are Jews, and with us are people who humiliated the Jews.”

“Under the rubble. Under the rubble we are making dough. This is, of course, after the blessed work. He’s making coffee. I’m stirring with a stick.”

“May Allah accept from us all the small and large deeds. May he use us and not replace us.” [A reference to the Qur’an 5:54: “O believers! Whoever among you abandons their faith, Allah will replace them with others who love Him and are loved by Him…”]

“We are preparing ourselves, adorning ourselves, and putting on perfume before our meeting with the enemy, because we will meet Allah Almighty. By Allah’s will, we are martyrs advancing and not retreating. And if Allah Almighty, decrees life for us, our life, Allah willing, will be in the path of Allah. We will show the enemy our might, Allah willing.”

The video then proceeds to show the carnage the Qassam fighters wrought upon Israeli hardware and soldiers as helicopters are seen ferrying the dead and wounded, and abandoned vehicles rot in the hot Shuja’iyya summer.

To conclude, one fighter tells the camera that his comrades remain waiting for the enemy in good shape for the battles ahead:

“We seek to reassure you that our fighters in the Al-Qassam Brigades in the Shuja’iyya Brigade are still waiting for the enemy. Al-Qassam in Shuja’iyya is a thousand times well. We will not lay down our weapons, nor will we change or alter our path. We vow to Allah Almighty, then we vow to our people, that we will remain loyal to the blood of the martyrs. All salutes to our patient, stationed Palestinian people. It is a jihad of victory or martyrdom.”

Shuja’iyya is Gaza’s cradle of resistance, with a long history of giving the occupiers a bloody nose. In 2014, it was the sight of another fierce battle that killed 13 Israelis in a three-day fight, cementing its reputation as a graveyard for the Zionists.

It is one reason why Israeli troops were recorded themselves gleefully bombing multiple civilian buildings in the area and calling it revenge for their well-documented losses in 2014.

Now, the Israelis are having a third go at quelling the resistance in Shuja’iyya and aren’t exactly pulling up trees, as the Lions of al-Muntar operation shows. As Israel commits more troops to the Shuja’iyya quagmire in the coming days, Al-Qassam is sure to have more opportunities to showcase its extraordinary resilience and exact a steep cost for the Israelis’ escalating barbarism against the defenceless Palestinians.

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