By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades intensify operations in Gaza, targeting Israeli troops, tanks, and military vehicles amid ongoing ground confrontations.

The Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza, primarily the Al-Qassam Brigades—the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)—and the Al-Quds Brigades, affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement, have escalated their operations against Israeli occupation forces across multiple fronts in the Gaza Strip.

On Friday, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced that their fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles in the Qizan al-Najjar area, south of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. 

The group reported that it pounded the forces with mortar shells and simultaneously targeted the settlements of Kibbutz Nirim and Ein al-Thalath, east of Khan Yunis, using short-range 114mm Rajum rockets.

In a separate operation, the Al-Quds Brigades said it carried out a sniper attack east of the Sheja’iyya neighborhood in Gaza City, claiming that the targeted Israeli soldier had been aiming at civilians. 

The group had previously announced the downing of an Israeli Matris 600 drone in the same eastern Gaza sector, near the Al-Tuffah neighborhood.

The resistance groups have increasingly documented their activities with surveillance and operational footage.

 On Friday, the Al-Quds Brigades released a video showing a targeted mortar attack on an Israeli infantry unit east of Khan Yunis. The video depicted the close monitoring of at least four soldiers before a direct strike using a mobile mortar launcher.

Earlier, the Al-Quds Brigades also broadcast footage of a successful ambush west of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, where a tank was detonated using a “highly explosive barrel bomb.” 

On Thursday, the group reported the destruction of an Israeli D9 armored bulldozer with a similar explosive device north of Al-Fakhari, as well as the targeting of another military vehicle in Jouret al-Lut, south of Khan Yunis.

For its part, the Al-Qassam Brigades revealed on Thursday that it had destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks using high-explosive devices earlier this month, east of Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. The group also confirmed a sniper operation against an Israeli soldier in the same area on June 6.

In a joint operation last Wednesday, both Al-Qassam and Al-Quds fighters reportedly killed an Israeli soldier by sniper fire east of Khan Yunis. The Israeli military later acknowledged the death of a first sergeant.

Qassam Destroys Three Merkava Tanks, Al-Quds Shoots Down Advanced Drone

These operations are part of a broader resistance campaign in response to the Israeli ground offensive that began on October 27, 2023. 

Since then, Palestinian resistance factions have carried out dozens of ambushes, targeted military infrastructure, destroyed or damaged hundreds of vehicles, and launched numerous rocket barrages at Israeli cities and settlements using both medium- and long-range missiles.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military has continued its devastating campaign in Gaza, which has resulted in over 185,000 Palestinian casualties, including tens of thousands of children and women, and more than 11,000 reported missing, according to local health authorities.

Since the outbreak of the wider war between Israel and Iran on June 13, the Israeli army has reported the deaths of four of its soldiers in Gaza alone, highlighting the continued intensity of ground confrontations.

(PC, AJA)