A video published on Wednesday shows Hussein Fayyad (Abu Hamza), commander of the Beit Hanoun Battalion in the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, appearing in Gaza eight months after the Israeli military announced he had been killed in northern Gaza.
In the video, which has no specified date, Fayyad is seen meeting with citizens amidst the destruction caused by Israeli bombardment. He spoke about the war and the losses suffered by the Israeli military, emphasizing its failure to achieve its proclaimed goals.
“If the strong do not win, they are defeated; and if the weak are not defeated, they are victorious,” Fayyad declared.
Fayyad stressed that Israel had caused only destruction but had not broken Gaza, describing it as unyielding, dignified, and victorious.
Israeli researcher Or Bialikov commented on the video, calling Fayyad’s appearance in Beit Hanoun a “shame” for the Israeli military. He sarcastically noted, “Apparently, the Israeli military killed someone else.”
In May 2024, Israel claimed to have eliminated Fayyad, accusing him of several attacks on Israel, but his reappearance casts doubt on that claim.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) later admitted that it had not killed the Hamas commander in May. In a statement, the IDF stated that after Fayyad was targeted in May, “it was determined with a high degree of probability by the IDF and Shin Bet that he had been eliminated, following which the IDF issued a statement on the matter.”
“Upon further examination, it was revealed that the intelligence findings relied upon by the Intelligence Directorate and Shin Bet were not sufficiently accurate,” the military stated.
A ceasefire between the Palestinian Hamas movement and Israel, brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States (U.S.), entered its first phase on Sunday, lasting 42 days, with further negotiations for a second and third phase ongoing, Klix.ba writes.
