The Israeli Army Radio released preliminary findings today regarding the fierce battle that unfolded yesterday, Friday, between fighters from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades — the military wing of Hamas — and Israeli occupation forces in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City. The confrontation resulted in the killing and wounding of Israeli officers and soldiers.
The Israeli police announced the death of an undercover unit officer, Neta Yitzhak Kahana, from the Border Police’s undercover unit (Yamas). Meanwhile, the Israeli army confirmed the death of an officer ranked Captain (Ido Fulokh) and the injury of three other soldiers during the armed clashes.
The Qassam Brigades had earlier reported that their fighters targeted an Israeli special force entrenched inside a residential home with RPG and Yasin-105 anti-tank projectiles, engaging them in close-quarters combat with automatic weapons, resulting in several Israeli casualties.
Sequence of Events
According to Israeli media outlets, the preliminary investigation outlined the sequence of events during Friday’s battle in Shuja’iyya as follows:
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- A force from the Israeli Army’s 16th Reserve Brigade moved to carry out an offensive raid approximately 1.5 kilometres from the border fence. After completing a sweep operation, the force remained in the field to set up an ambush involving the undercover Yamas unit.
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- Around 4:25 PM, an armed Palestinian cell approached the ambush site, leading to a fierce firefight inside a building in Shuja’iyya, during which an Israeli undercover officer was killed.
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- Immediately afterward, Israeli forces launched an emergency rescue operation, requiring reinforcements to extract their besieged fighters.
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- The rescue operation lasted for two full hours and involved at least five separate armed engagements with Palestinian resistance cells.
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- Initially, an anti-tank missile was fired at a military evacuation vehicle, moderately wounding a soldier.
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- Later, two more anti-tank missiles targeted a tank from the 46th Battalion, although no casualties were reported in those instances.
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- About an hour after the first firefight, another anti-tank missile struck a second tank from the same battalion, resulting in the death of an officer and injury to another soldier.
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- Approximately 30 minutes later, another anti-tank missile was fired at the Israeli forces, accompanied by intense small arms fire, which wounded two more soldiers.
Israeli Channel 12 quoted the army describing the evacuation operations from Shuja’iyya as “highly complicated,” involving five separate engagements over a span of two hours.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that the commander of the “Jerusalem Brigade” (the 16th Brigade) of the Israeli Army suffered critical injuries during the clashes with Palestinian fighters in Shuja’iyya.
Video footage obtained by Al Jazeera showed smoke rising from eastern Gaza City, alongside the heavy presence of Israeli helicopters conducting intense gunfire.
Qassam’s Statement: Steadfastness and Tactical Superiority
Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the al-Qassam Brigades, praised the fighters’ heroism, describing the operations as “meticulously planned ambushes,” where resistance fighters “lie in wait for the enemy to strike them with precision, at the place, time, and method of their choosing.”
He added on Telegram that the steadfastness and sacrifices of the mujahideen — from Beit Hanoun in the north to Rafah in the south — represent a source of pride and a miraculous military achievement, serving as a proof upon the youth of the Ummah and its forces.
Abu Ubaida emphasised that Qassam fighters remain prepared in their defensive formations and ambushes, having pledged to continue the fight until either victory or martyrdom.
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