The Al-Quds Brigades have revealed that they attempted to capture an Israeli soldier after carrying out a complex operation against an armoured personnel carrier (APC) in the Abasan al-Kabira area, east of Khan Younis, before Israeli forces intervened and killed the soldier.
A field commander from the Brigades said the operation took place last Tuesday by detonating a “Barq” shock explosive device, which had been planted in advance along the APC’s route after days of precise monitoring and field preparation. The blast caused the carrier to catch fire completely.
He added: “Following the explosion, our fighters immediately stormed the APC and clashed with its crew at point-blank range, managing to drag one of the soldiers out in an attempt to capture him alive.”
He continued: “Moments into the operation, nearby Israeli military vehicles intervened, targeting the area with shells and heavy machine-gun fire, which obstructed the capture attempt and led to the soldier’s death along with the martyrdom of a group of our brave fighters who carried out the operation courageously.”
The commander confirmed that this was not the first such operation, noting that there had been multiple previous attempts to capture soldiers in infiltration and clash zones, and stressed confidence in the success of future operations.
For its part, the Al-Qassam Brigades recently revealed similar attempts to capture soldiers. The most recent case involved a reservist in an engineering unit who fled his vehicle the moment the fighters launched their assault.
Al-Qassam published a video clip showing the soldier, Avraham Azulai, fleeing from his vehicle, which he was using to demolish homes in the Gaza Strip. The fighters killed him and seized his weapons.
Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Al-Qassam, confirmed that Israeli soldiers will continue to be captured if they remain in the Gaza Strip and refuse to withdraw.
