Military expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi said that the Beit Lahia Battalion of the Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – had the highest rate of rehabilitation after the end of the first phase of the Israeli war.
According to Al-Duwairi’s statement to Al-Jazeera, the Beit Lahia Battalion’s combat readiness has been raised to 90%, which is the highest percentage, due to it being on a direct line of contact with the Gaza envelope and separated by agricultural land, “so it is expected that the occupation army will enter it with Beit Hanoun at any moment.”
Beit Lahia is 7 kilometers away from Gaza City, and is bordered by the occupied village of Harbia to the north, Jabalia to the south, Beit Hanoun to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Its area is 24,500 dunums (a dunum equals one thousand square metres).
According to the military expert, the rehabilitation of the battalions took place to varying degrees between 65% and 90% in terms of combat readiness in terms of the material dimension (recycling of occupation waste and industrialization) as well as the human dimension (re-recruitment).
But the way the resistance fights has become different – according to Al-Duwairi – as it currently relies on guerrilla warfare from zero distance, with fighters emerging from what remains of the tunnel network and from under the rubble.
Al-Duwairi explained that Al-Qassam rehabilitated its 12 brigades in the northern Gaza Strip into 8 battalions, before Abu Ubaida, the brigades’ spokesman, announced – in one of his video speeches – the rehabilitation of the 12 brigades.
He added that the Qassam Brigades are mainly distributed geographically, and most of the members of one battalion are from the region, as everyone defends his family and home.
The military expert pointed out that the occupation army was in direct land contact with Beit Lahia in late October 2023, and was then subjected to intense bombardment even after the withdrawal of the 36th Division and the rest of the Israeli forces from northern Gaza and the start of the second phase in Khan Yunis in the south.
Al-Qassam had mourned 4 of its most prominent field commanders in late November 2023, including Wael Rajab, commander of the Beit Lahia Qassam brigade, along with Ahmed Al-Ghandour, Raafat Salman, and Ayman Siam.
Yesterday, Thursday, Al-Qassam announced the elimination of an Israeli foot force of 15 soldiers from a zero distance in the Beit Lahia Square area.
Two days ago, Al-Qassam announced that it had targeted an Israeli Merkava tank and a troop carrier with two “Al-Yassin 105” shells in the Aslan area, west of Beit Lahia.
On November 18, Al-Qassam said that its fighters targeted an Israeli foot force of 12 soldiers with an anti-personnel missile in the Islamic Society area in central Beit Lahia.
Al-Qassam also announced – on the 10th of this month – that it targeted an Israeli foot force of 15 soldiers with an anti-personnel RPG shell and finished them off from zero distance with light weapons and grenades west of the Shaima area, north of Beit Lahia.
