The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced on Monday that its fighters successfully trapped a unit of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles in a minefield south of the al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City last Saturday.
In a statement, the Brigades declared:
“Our fighters managed to lure an Israeli force into a minefield composed of anti-personnel and anti-armor explosives in the vicinity of al-Manasra playground, south of al-Zaytoun. The resistance monitored the evacuation of the dead and wounded soldiers and the withdrawal of the damaged vehicles under heavy covering fire.”
Continuation of “David’s Stones” Operations
The announcement follows the release of new footage by Al-Qassam showing resistance fighters planting explosive devices and targeting Israeli soldiers and vehicles in Jabalia al-Balad, north of the Gaza Strip, as part of the ongoing “David’s Stones” operations.
The video captured Al-Qassam fighters preparing and laying explosive charges in the path of Israeli armoured units advancing into Jabalia, before detonating them in precise synchrony with the occupation’s movement. Following the blasts, the fighters pounded the targeted site with heavy-calibre mortar shells, a direct response to weeks of Israeli incursions that have left widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure.
This was the second video released by Al-Qassam within a matter of hours. On Sunday, the Brigades shared additional footage documenting strikes on Israeli soldiers and vehicles along southern Gaza’s incursion fronts.
According to the Brigades, these operations included mortar bombardments on Israeli troop gatherings in Khan Younis and along the Salah al-Din axis, also under the “David’s Stones” campaign. The footage further showed bulldozers, tanks, and armoured personnel carriers being struck in the heart of Khan Younis.
Joint Resistance Strikes
Al-Qassam confirmed that its fighters coordinated with the Saraya al-Quds (Islamic Jihad’s armed wing) and the al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, launching mortar attacks against Israeli military concentrations.
Earlier, Al-Qassam and Saraya al-Quds jointly targeted an Israeli command-and-control site near the court complex south of Khan Younis with multiple mortar shells, striking at the occupation’s operational backbone.
Israeli Censorship of Battlefield Losses
International reports have noted that the Israeli military imposes strict censorship on its domestic media, preventing the publication of details on casualties and equipment losses caused by Palestinian resistance operations. This policy is intended to shield the Israeli public from the scale of battlefield damage and maintain morale.
Resistance Amid Genocide in Gaza
The operations by Al-Qassam and other resistance factions come as a direct response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, waged by the Israeli occupation army with full American backing since October 7, 2023.
This genocidal campaign has included systematic killing, starvation, mass destruction of civilian areas, and forced displacement — in open defiance of international appeals and the binding rulings of the International Court of Justice demanding a halt to the assault.
