What is happening is a change of tactics on the part of the Resistance which is altering the nature of the battles of Gaza altogether.
The initial assessment about the latest developments in the Israeli war in Gaza is that the war has gone back to the very start, despite the 222 days of constant fighting and relentless Israeli bombardment.
This reading was the outcome of reports published in Israeli media, citing Israeli military officials as saying that Hamas has regrouped in northern Gaza, an area that was supposedly subdued by the Israeli army in the early months of the war.
Today’s fighting in Jabaliya, however, suggests that Hamas, and other resistance groups may have done more than just regrouped.
News from the battlefield, often documented by Gaza’s Resistance, shows that the Israeli army is weaker than ever, and the Palestinian Resistance has the upper hand, at all fronts.
Earlier in the day, Wednesday, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said it killed 12 Israeli soldiers from zero distance in the Jabaliya fighting.
That was only one of many statements issued by Gaza Resistance groups throughout the day.
Later, Israel sources, cited in Al-Jazeera admitted that in a single attack 20 occupation soldiers have been killed or wounded on Wednesday after a booby-trapped building in Jabaliya was detonated with Israeli forces inside.
The “difficult security incident”, reported in the Israeli media, involved the 98th Division of the Israeli army, which is currently operating in the Jabaliya refugee camp.
As Israeli helicopters were spotted landing east of Jabaliya, Israeli hospitals said that they are dealing with large numbers of casualties as a result of the fierce battles taking place in Gaza.
According to the events of the last a few days, including the retreat of the Israeli army from Zaytoun, it is becoming clear that the issue is not mere regrouping of Resistance forces. Instead, what is happening is a change of tactics on the part of the Resistance which is altering the nature of the battles of Gaza altogether.
Below are the latest statements by the two main Resistance forces in Gaza, and the Lebanese Resistance Movement Hezbollah.
The statements were communicated via their Telegram channels and are published here in their original form.
Al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas)
“Al-Qassam Brigades target a D9 military bulldozer with an Al-Yassin 105 shell at the Al-Ternis junction in Jabaliya Camp, north of the Gaza Strip.
“Al-Qassam Brigades bombard Sderot with the 114 mm short-range Rajoom missile system.
“Al-Qassam fighters were able to drop an anti-personnel shell through a drone on a group of soldiers east of the Jabaliya camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
Al-Qassam fighters target an Israeli infantry force with an anti-personnel shell south of the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 15, 2024
“In a complex operation in Block 4 in Jabaliya camp, north of Gaza Strip, Al-Qassam fighters targeted a D9 military bulldozer with an Al-Yassin 105 shell and attacked a Zionist force that had fortified itself inside one of the houses with two anti-personnel shells, engaging in combat with it.
“As soon as the rescue force advanced to the location, a Shuath explosive device was detonated on a Merkava tank. After attempts to retrieve the equipment of the targeted force scattered on the ground, the Zionist air force savagely bombed the site, and our fighters confirmed the killing of at least 12 soldiers in the operation.
“Al-Qassam fighters sniped a Zionist soldier near the Al-Tabaeen Mosque, east of the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
“Al-Qassam fighters detonated a Shuath explosive device against a special Zionist force that attempted to infiltrate a house east of Jabaliya camp in the northern Gaza Strip, and subsequently eliminated its members.
This video shows an Israeli drone that was seized by Al-Qassam fighters west of the Jabaliya camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 15, 2024
“Al-Qassam Brigades target a Zionist Merkava 4 tank with an Al-Yassin 105 shell on the axis of advance east of the city of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip.
“Al-Qassam fighters targeted a special Zionist force with two anti-personnel TBG shells on the axis of advance east of Jabaliya camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
“Al-Qassam Brigades bombard enemy artillery positions east of the city of Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip, with heavy-caliber mortar shells.
“Al-Qassam Brigades target a Zionist D9 bulldozer with an Al-Yassin 105 shell north of the cemetery, east of the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.
In this video, Al-Qassam fighters are seen clashing with Israeli soldiers and vehicles while bombarding their gatherings with mortar shells, east of the city of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 15, 2024
“Al-Qassam Brigades bombed the Liman military barracks in western Al-Jalil in northern occupied Palestine with a concentrated rocket barrage fired from southern Lebanon in response to the continued Zionist aggression and massacres against civilians in Gaza.
“Al-Qassam Brigades target a Merkava tank with an Al-Yassin 105 shell in the Al-Aradat area, north of the cemetery, east of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
“Al-Qassam Brigades bombard the settlement of Amitai with the 114mm short-range Rajoom rocket system.
“After their return from the combat lines, our fighters reported that a Zionist infantry force was targeted by an anti-personnel shell, leaving them dead and wounded south of Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City.”
Al-Quds Brigades (Palestinian Islamic Jihad)
“We engaged in fierce clashes with the soldiers of the Zionist enemy near Abu Zaytoun, Jabaliya camp, and we caused them to fall dead and wounded.
“We killed and wounded a Zionist infantry force during fierce clashes in the axis of advancement on Al-Sikka Street, east of the Jabaliya camp.
“In a joint operation.. Saraya Al-Quds and Al-Nasser Salah Al-Din Brigades bombed the settlement of Sderot with a rocket barrage.
“We bombarded enemy soldiers and vehicles with a barrage of 60-caliber regular mortar shells inside the Jabaliya camp market.
In this video, Al-Quds Brigades fighters are seen targeting a zionist Merkava tank east of Jabaliya camp.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 15, 2024
“We targeted, with two tandem shells, a Merkava vehicle and a military bulldozer at the Al-Tarnas junction in the Jabaliya camp.
“We bombarded a gathering of soldiers and vehicles of the Zionist enemy in Jabaliya camp with a barrage of standard mortar shells (caliber 81 and caliber 60).
“In a joint operation, Saraya Al-Quds and Al-Nasser Salah Al-Din Brigades targeted a fortified Zionist force in one of the buildings in Jabaliya camp with a 107-type rocket.
“We bombed a gathering of enemy vehicles on Al-Hadad Street in Jabaliya camp with a barrage of standard 60 caliber mortar shells.
“We bombed a gathering of enemy vehicles on Abu Al-Aish Street in Jabaliya camp with a barrage of standard 81 caliber mortar shells.
“We bombed a gathering of enemy vehicles behind Sultan Studio in Jabaliya camp with a barrage of standard 60 caliber mortar shells.
“In a joint operation, the fighters of Saraya Al-Quds and the Mujahideen Brigades targeted a Merkava tank with an anti-tank shell on Abu Al-Aish Street in Jabaliya Camp.
In this video, Al-Quds fighters are seen targeting a zionist vehicle and bombing Zionist soldiers during the fierce battles it fought on the axis of advance in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) May 15, 2024
“Our fighters targeted a building occupied by a special Zionist force opposite the agency’s clinic in the Jabaliya camp with two shells.
“We bombarded enemy infantry soldiers with a barrage of 60-caliber regular mortar shells in the vicinity of Al-Tabi’een Mosque, east of Rafah.
“We bombed forces penetrating the vicinity of the Rafah crossing with heavy mortar shells.
“We bombed a gathering of enemy vehicles on Jabal Al-Kashef, east of the city of Jabaliya, with a barrage of 81-caliber standard mortar shells.
“Our fighters sniped a Zionist sniper barricaded in a building on Abu Al-Aish Street in Jabaliya camp.
“Once again, we bombed a gathering of enemy vehicles on Jabal Al-Kashef, east of the city of Jabaliya, with a barrage of 60-caliber standard mortar shells.”
Hezbollah
“- Eastern Sector:
“1. At 12:00, the newly established technical systems and surveillance equipment at the radar site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms were targeted with appropriate weapons, resulting in direct hits and their destruction.
“2. At 16:58, the Al-Samaqa site in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Shuba hills was targeted with rocket weapons, resulting in direct hits.
“- Western Sector:
“1. At 11:35, the headquarters of the 91st Division in the Branit barracks was targeted with heavy Burkan rockets, resulting in direct hits and the partial destruction of the barracks. This was in response to the assassination carried out by the Israeli enemy in southern Lebanon.
One of the main characteristics of the 2006 Lebanon war was Hezbollah’s use of tunnels
Fighters would spend days lying in wait, toughing it out with no proper food or sleep, just long enough to come up behind Israeli forces like ghosts & pounce.
Hamas have now mastered this too pic.twitter.com/NjRlVhbdZ7
— Richard Medhurst (@richimedhurst) May 15, 2024
“2. At 12:00, the headquarters of the Air Surveillance Unit in the Meron base was targeted with dozens of Katyusha rockets, heavy rockets, and artillery shells, hitting both old and new equipment and disabling parts of them completely. This was also in response to the assassination carried out by the Israeli enemy in southern Lebanon.
“3. At 17:00, the Ras Al-Naqoura naval site was targeted with artillery shells, resulting in direct hits.
“4. At 19:50, an aerial attack was launched using several attack drones on the Ilaniya base west of Tabariyya, targeting part of the comprehensive surveillance and detection system of the Air Force. The specified targets were hit accurately, achieving the intended objectives of this limited operation.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)