Israeli army losses rise amid nine months of Gaza genocide
Abu Ubaida: Hamas' fighting capabilities stronger than ever
TEHRAN- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF), on Monday, acknowledged the injury of an officer from Battalion 82, Sa’ar Migolan, who is in a critical condition during a battle in northern Gaza.
The latest announcement comes as the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza entered its tenth month.
On Sunday, during intense fighting in southern Gaza, the IOF acknowledged the injury of the commander of Battalion 52, noting that he holds the rank of colonel.
The IOF also admitted the death of an officer, who served as a company commander in the 601 Engineering Battalion, stating that he died during battles in southern Gaza.
With the officer’s death, the number of casualties in the Israeli army’s battles in Gaza rises to more than 680 officers and soldiers since October 7, 2023, in addition to around 4,100 others injured to varying degrees, as reported by Israeli media under the “permission to publish” clause.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian resistance continues to defend the enclave against the invading forces, engaging in fierce clashes and carrying out a series of operations on multiple combat fronts, inflicting significant losses on the Israeli military.
The Palestinian resistance said It is confronting the IOF and executing a series of operations across Gaza, increasing the number of casualties among the Israeli army since October 7, 2023.
The armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, announced it has targeted a Merkava 4 tank and an Israeli armored personnel carrier with Yasin 105 shells, in the Tel Sultan neighborhood in Rafah city, southern Gaza.
Additionally, the al-Qassam Brigades targeted a Merkava 4 tank with a “Shawath” improvised explosive device.
The brigades also targeted a Merkava 4 tank with a Yasin 105 shell at Baghdad Street in the Shejaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.
The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the al-Quds Brigades, announced that it is engaging in fierce battles with Israeli soldiers using appropriate anti-armor and anti-tank weapons in areas west of Rafah.
The al-Quds Brigades also targeted Israeli soldiers stationed at the Rafah crossing gate with Egypt and its surroundings, as well as Israeli troops and vehicles advancing in the Shejaiya neighborhood, with mortar shells.
In a joint operation with the al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, the armed wing of PIJ, targeted Israeli military formations at the Nahal Oz military site with a rocket barrage.
Meanwhile, the martyrs of al-Aqsa Brigades declared it was engaged in fierce battles with Israeli forces and their military vehicles using appropriate weapons on the western outskirts of Rafah.
Reuters reported that the IOF is again attacking Gaza City in what residents say is one of the heaviest attacks since October 7, in yet another sign of the Israeli military’s ongoing failures in northern Gaza.
This comes as the spokesman for the al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, said the Israeli occupation will “emerge defeated and we will reveal later how we deceived it for years”.
Hamas published the video of Abu Ubaida from inside the Gaza Strip to mark nine months since the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian territory started.
In a recorded speech, Abu Ubaida, emphasized that the people of Gaza continue to be subjected to genocide as “punishment for adherence to their land and their right to resist, without food or medicine”.
He added that independent opinion polls show, after months of non-stop daily Israeli bombardments and massacres, how Gazans continue to rally behind the armed resistance.
Abu Ubaida stressed that operation al-Aqsa Storm was not the beginning of history for the resistance or the occupation’s aggression, but rather represented a moment of explosion against its decades-old war crimes.
He highlighted how the Palestinian resistance is still fighting fiercely for nine months and facing the occupation as “we promised on the first day of the aggression, with great combat spirit”.
He said "we fight an army that uses civilians as human shields, bombards homes, desecrates hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, and historical sites.”
He pointed out that all this happens in full view of the world, which “has seen through the occupation’s war crimes in Gaza, the lack of any action by international organizations and the failure of alleged human rights laws.”
On the battleground, Abu Ubaida stressed that the 24 brigades affiliated with Hamas’s military wing fought from Beit Hanoun in the north to Rafah in the far south, presenting martyrs from soldiers and leaders from all levels, but the resistance will never surrender saying “the flag will not fall”.
Abu Ubaida noted that the ongoing battle in Rafah for two months and what is happening in Shejaiya and northern Gaza and its center are the best evidence of the resistance’s strength and the failure of the occupation, which “continues to receive painful blows wherever it advances within the Strip.”
Abu Ubaida revealed that al-Qassam Brigades managed to recruit thousands of new fighters during the war, reassuring that its human capabilities are in good shape.
He affirmed that the Gaza resistance has strengthened its defensive capabilities to confront the occupation everywhere in the besieged enclave.
Abu Ubaida pledged that south of Gaza City, will be “terrifying for the occupation, and its forces will emerge defeated from it”.
In his speech, the spokesperson for the al-Qassam Brigades also addressed the Israeli public and the families of Israeli captives in Gaza, saying that “the absolute victory that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu speaks of is a personal victory at the expense of sacrificing your sons”.
He continued, in his message to the Israelis, that the fate of the captives has become a toy in Netanyahu’s hands.
Abu Ubaida concluded his speech with what he described as a “salute of duty” to Hezbollah in Lebanon and to the resistance in Yemen and Iraq, affirming that these fronts united to support occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem) and “the collective conscience of our nation is aligned with this resistance”.
In conclusion, Abu Ubaida reassured the Palestinian people and their resistance that the battle to defend Gaza will only lead to significant transformations, affirming that the inevitable outcome of resistance will be victory and the defeat of the occupation.