Sniper’s Rifle Remains Axiom on Gaza’s Battlefield

Military expert Colonel Hatem Al-Falahi believes the axes of Al-Zeitoun neighborhood (southeast of Gaza City) and Tal Al-Hawa (southwest of Gaza City) are continually active with Palestinian groups putting up stiff resistance there and explains why the Israelis are faltering in their military operations in those areas.

Colonel Al-Falahi of Al Jazeera Satellite Channel made this observation as he commented on the joint operation between Al Jihad’s Saraya Al Quds and the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades which led to the sniping of an Israeli soldier in the Al-Zeitoun neighborhood.

As per Saraya Al-Quds video, it showed because the Israeli army is fighting from inside buildings, none of its soldiers are able to stick their heads out of the window and/or show their bodies completely.

In contrast, Colonel Al-Falahi says in an analysis of the military scene – the resistance groups are fighting from areas very close to the occupation army.

He said the recent  military operations carried out by the resistance show that the cooperation between the Palestinian factions have become great, especially between the two Islamists groups: Qassam Brigades and Saraya Al-Quds; adding this means they are work together as one unit and there is a joint operations room that coordinates the different military activities.

Sniper operations

Al-Falahi believes sniper operations have a very large impact, in terms of subject and psychology, on the occupation forces. He pointed out these are precise operations carried out against Israeli officers at high levels.

Colonel Al-Falahi recalled a previous report by the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth, which revealed that the Israeli army monitored the work of Palestinian snipers for 70 hours in the past and concluded a sniper in the Qassam Brigades and the rest of the factions take two or three days to monitor the target.

The daily stated these snipers have the capability to monitor their targets accurately, also concluding that snipers do not carry weapons during their movements, but rather, there are specific points where these are located in.

He pointed out snipers had a very large role in inflicting heavy losses on the occupation army in its war on the Gaza Strip, and added that at least 100 sniper operations have been carried out so far by Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip.

The military and strategic expert confirmed that the resistance operations are still ongoing in Gaza, and the “sniper’s rifle” will remain operational for a long time, and the occupation army will not be able to remain in these areas no matter how much capabilities it has.

Resistance factions are fighting fierce battles with the Israeli occupation forces in different areas of Gaza. They have managed to kill Israeli soldiers in ambushes and clashed with them in the  combat axes in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, the center and southern part of the Strip according to the Palestine Information Center.

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Displaced Palestinians Settle in Gaza Graveyards

Among the graves of the dead the Abu Samak family sleeps on the ground in the Al-Sawarha cemetery in the town of Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip. They forcibly came here following the Israeli army’s decision to evict them from their homes east of Deir al-Balah, a few days ago according to the Palestinian Information Center.

Where to go?

Adham, head of the family, said “the decision to forcibly evict us fell like a thunderbolt, and the first thing that came our minds was where do we go?”

“All of the areas west of Deir al-Balah, which the Israeli occupation army asked us them to go to, were completely full, leaving us with few options, thus we settled here, sleeping on the ground between the graves of the dead,” Abu Samak added.

“We are dead while we are alive, the Israeli army continues to kill us – it’s been nearly a year now – and the world is watching us and does not care.

What happened to humanity, what law, or custom states that our children should sleep in the open and in fear among the graves of the dead,” he wounders.

On 24-25 August, the Israeli occupation forces issued evacuation orders to residents of many neighborhoods in Deir al-Balah, telling them to head to the so-called humanitarian zone they keep establishing but last Thursday, they asked some of them to return to their neighborhoods once again.

Most difficult war

Ibtisam Abu Amra’s situation is no better than that of Abu Samak: She was forced to flee from the Abu Areef area east of Deir al-Balah to the cemetery in the city center.

“This war is the most difficult, the army tells us to go to safe areas, then it bombs and targets civilians in them. Where is the security and safety the Israeli army claims to be providing,” she asked.

 “We were displaced to the cemeteries, which are not safe, the army has already invaded them, bulldozing them and wreaking havoc and destruction in them, neither the living nor the dead are safe.”

“Displacement is torment, asking you to collect what is left of your belongings, your children and even the elderly in your home to the unknown, is persecution,” She explained. “We found nothing but the cemetery, so here we are living among the dead.”

According to international reports, more than two million Palestinians are crowded into what is called the humanitarian zone, which is less than 11% of the entire Gaza Strip, in extremely harsh and tragic conditions.

Out of every 10 Palestinians, 9 have been forced to leave their homes and be displaced once or several times, according to reports from international organizations.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are patiently and hopefully waiting for the moment when the bloody war will stop so that their repeated displacement will stop and they can return, even to the ruins of their destroyed homes.

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Brik: ‘It is Not Hamas That is Collapsing But Israel’

Retired Israeli General Itzhak Brik said if the Israeli forces “continue fighting in Gaza by raiding and re-raiding the same targets, not only we won’t bring Hamas to collapse, but we will collapse ourselves”.

In an opinion piece published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, titled, “It Is Not Hamas That Is Collapsing, but iIsrael,” Brik said every day, Israeli forces in Gaza grow weaker while Hamas, “in contrast, has already replenished its ranks with 17- and 18-year-olds”.

Brik also noted many Israeli reservists are “no longer consenting” to being “redrafted again and again” and “conscripted soldiers are exhausted and are losing professional skills for lack of training”.

“Some argue that withdrawing army forces from Gaza after signing a hostage deal with Hamas would be the same as being defeated and surrendering…but this claim is grounded in a fundamental misunderstanding of what is taking place in the Gaza Strip.

It is fueled by clichés spread by the political and military echelons to justify their actions and gain public support and legitimacy to continue a failed war… it is those very same people declaring that a cessation of hostilities means our defeat and surrender who are bringing the military closer to collapse and the state to its downfall,” he added.

“Israel’s economy, international relations and social cohesiveness are severely damaged by this war of attrition against both Hamas and Hezbollah,” he said, adding the Israeli military “does not have enough forces to fight a multi-front war”.

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Resignation of Top Chief Shows Deep Turmoil in Israeli Army

The Israeli occupation army Ground Forces Commander Tamir Yedie resigned his post “for personal reasons,” it was reported by the Israeli media.

The resignation of the top commander has been trending on social media ever since it was announced with his name trending.

An Israeli military statement did not provide further details about Yadai’s resignation, which came after he served three years in his position according to Anadolu.

His resignation maybe seen as a protest at the way the Israeli war is being handled in Gaza and the current rift between Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The latter insists that the army must continue fighting against Hamas and the Palestinian resistance groups while Gallant is in favor of a breakthrough political deal that would see the return of the 100-or-so remaining hostages.

Also Yadai’s sudden resignation reflects deep-seated dismay within the Israeli army who privately feel they are being made to do an impossible task in Gaza.

Last April, 2024 head of the Military Intelligence Division Aharon Haliva resigned, and the Israeli media then expected a series of resignations in the Israeli army leadership after the launch of internal investigations relating to the military and intelligence failure in repelling the Al-Aqsa Flood operation by Al-Qassam Brigades on 7 October, 2023 according to the Palestine Information Center.

It was then expected among the military leaders that would resign were Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, his deputy Amir Baram, commander of the Gaza Division Avi Rosenfeld and commander of the Southern Command Yaron Finkelman, although he had been in his position for only two months before 7 October.

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Israel Holds 52 Palestinians Journalists in Jail

Israel today is adopting a declared policy of imprisoning Palestinian journalists both in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to hide the evil truth.

Since 7 October, 2023, the Israeli army has detained at least 98 journalists for daring to report on Israeli atrocities whether in Gaza and/or the West Bank.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) stated, Monday, that 52 of these detainees remain in Israeli jails, a number that is being brandished in the social media.

The PPS, a non-governmental organization advocating for prisoners’ rights, said among the detained journalists, 15 are being held under administrative detention, including six female journalists, and at least 17 journalists from the Gaza Strip were detained reported Anadolu.

Israel has a routine policy of administrative detention where it can literally pick a Palestinian person off the street and detain him and/or her indefinitely and without charge or trial.

Among the detained journalists from Gaza are Nidal Al-Wahidi and Haitham Abdelwahid. Nobody knows about their wherabouts since they were forcibly taken by Israeli troops and with no information about their conditions, the statement noted.

Thousands of Palestinians were arrested by the Israeli army from areas across the Gaza Strip, but Israeli authorities have refused to give specific figures.

Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip has killed nearly 40,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 94,200 others, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of the enclave has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice according to the Turkish news agency.

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