Abu Obeida Archives - CrossFireArarbia

Hamas Releases US-Israeli Hostage

CrossFireArabia
May 12, 2025

The International Committee of the Red Cross received Israeli-American soldier Idan Alexander from Hamas on Monday evening. His family confirmed he would travel to Doha later in May to meet President Trump and Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Hamas had captured Alexander in Gaza during the war as he served in the Israeli military. The release followed direct talks between Hamas and the U.S., and came as part of broader efforts to secure a ceasefire, open border crossings, and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The handover took place in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The Israeli military confirmed it received Alexander and said he is in good health.

Hamas said it released Alexander after “important talks” with the U.S. and praised the American administration’s efforts. The resistance movement emphasized that serious and responsible negotiations produce results in freeing prisoners. Continued military aggression, they warned, only prolongs prisoners’ suffering and risks killing them.

Hamas declared its readiness to begin immediate negotiations for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, lifting the blockade on Gaza, a prisoner exchange deal, and reconstruction of the war-torn enclave. It also called on U.S. President Donald Trump to intensify efforts to end “Netanyahu’s brutal war against children, women, and unarmed civilians in Gaza.”

Earlier Monday, Israeli media reported full preparations were in place to receive Alexander. His family confirmed he would travel to Doha later in May to meet President Trump and Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Channel 12 said the Israeli army received orders to halt fire in Gaza from midday to ensure a smooth handover. A military helicopter brought Alexander’s family to the Re’im base near the Gaza border to await his release.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Israelis demonstrated outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, demanding the release of all Israeli prisoners.

Earlier in the day, Abu Obeida, spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing, said on Telegram that the group had decided to free Alexander. The 21-year-old soldier, originally from New Jersey, had served in the Israeli army and became the 39th prisoner released by Hamas since January 19, when a temporary ceasefire was reached. That deal later collapsed in March when Israel resumed its offensive.

U.S. Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff arrived in Israel for the release. Adam Boehler, the U.S. envoy for hostage affairs, posted a photo from the plane flying him and Alexander’s mother to Israel to receive the soldier.

Boehler praised Hamas’s decision and called for the return of the remains of four other U.S. citizens reportedly killed and still in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying Israel remains committed only to securing a safe corridor for Alexander’s release—not to a broader ceasefire or exchange. Talks for other Israeli prisoners, they added, will continue while Israel prepares to intensify attacks.

Netanyahu claimed Alexander’s release came without concessions, crediting U.S. support and Israeli military pressure. “We are in critical days,” he said, “and Hamas now has a deal on the table that could lead to the return of our captives.”

Haaretz quoted a senior Israeli source saying Israel demands that Hamas release at least half of the Israeli prisoners—dead or alive—before it enters full negotiations to end the genocide.

The Times of Israel reported that Hamas had received assurances from a mediator that releasing Alexander would improve their standing with Trump. The resistance movement reportedly hopes the move will encourage the U.S. president to pressure Netanyahu into accepting a broader deal according to the Quds News Network.

News

Israeli General: ‘If Deif Was in Our Army He Would Have Been a Top Commander’

CrossFireArabia
February 8, 2025

Former Shin Bet chief Carmi Gillon said if the commander of the Izz Aldin Al Qassam Brigades, Muhammad Deif, was an Israeli, he would have been a senior commander of the Israeli army’s special forces.

Gillon added – in Al Jazeera’s “Fawq Al Sulta (Above Authority)” program broadcast on 7 February – he was determined to kill Deif when he was spy chief and that Deif wanted to have him killed, describing him as a highly competent opponent.

This statement reflects an unprecedented appreciation by an Israeli general for a Palestinian leader, especially in light of the war that lasted 15 months before stopping after the ceasefire agreement.

https://twitter.com/dgkn_yl/status/1887864686382629171

Gillon pointed out that Deif possesses exceptional leadership qualities, which earned him respect even among his opponents.

Abu Obeida, the Qassam Brigades spokesman – the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – “announced on 30 January, 2025, the Al Deif, and a group of senior mujahideen members were killed.

Abu Obeida that besides Deif, a number of other leaders, most notably Marwan Issa, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Qassam Brigades, the Commander of the Weapons and Combat Services Section, Ghazi Abu Tama’a, the Commander of the Human Resources Section, Raed Thabet, and the Commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade, Rafeh Salama were also martyred according to JO24.

Opinion

A Great Day For The Resistance in Palestine

CrossFireArabia
January 22, 2025

The Qassam Brigades succeeded not only in winning the war and achieving victory in Gaza, but also in dealing fatal blows to Israeli morale, when they surprised the entire world, not just Israel, by organizing a military parade for hundreds of their fighters who emerged from the rubble, and/or heart of tunnels in their extremely elegant green clothes with their personal weapons, in a startling move, shedding light on their strength, despite Netanyahu’s 15 months of carnage. Brigade fighters stood steadfast, fighting, and sniping Israeli soldiers like birds and rabbits, despite the deceptions by their political and military leaders.

***

The smiling faces of the three Israeli female prisoners released in the first batch of the exchange according to the first phase of the ceasefire agreement were striking. The three young women emerged as if they had just returned from a concert, in good health, and in high spirits as if they were staying in a five-star hotel. It was a wonderful and very smart gesture for their guards to present symbolic gifts before they left the Strip in a Red Cross car.

These are the terrorists according to US and European specifics, setting an example of humanity, while the diplomatic envoys of Western civilization rape prisoners and treat them in a Nazi-like manner. The most honest example is the mujahida Khalida Jarrar and the painful state she appeared in after her release.

The fire of resistance ignites in the West Bank, suicide operations expand, and the dead among the occupation forces rises on the first days of the ceasefire to confirm that jihad is continuing in parallel and in conjunction with the exchange of prisoners.

The one who forced Netanyahu to drink the cup of defeat is not Trump, but the heroes of the Qassam Brigades, Al-Quds Brigades, and the Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who exhausted the Israeli army with heavy losses among its brigades and battalions, in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu stands defeated, not achieving any of his goals, neither eliminating the resistance movements in Gaza, nor with displacing the people of the Strip and replacing them with Israeli settlers.

As such we do not rule out the fact that he may violate the ceasefire in the coming days, and before the end of its first phase, in the hope of remaining in power. But no matter, the goals he failed to achieve over the course of 15 months of extermination and ethnic cleansing will not be achieved if he returns to war again but legitimize many retaliatory reactions from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Yemen, and perhaps soon from Lebanon and Iraq.

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Our people in the Gaza Strip celebrate and sing for joys of victory achieved by the resistance. Perhaps the return of the symbolic Abu Obeida after months of absence, congratulating all on victory and ignoring all Arab leaders except Yemen whilst affirming the readiness of the Qassam to return to fighting is a confirmation of the strength and steadfastness of the resistance, and its high capabilities to manage war, manage negotiations, and psychological warfare.

Thus we assert that the liberation of Palestine, all of Palestine, and the restoration of dignity to the Arabs and Muslims, has become imminent and it is only a matter of time…

This editorial by Al Rai Al Youm’s Chief Editor Mr Abdel Bari Atwan has been reproduced from Arabic

Analyses

Abu Obeida Outlines a New ‘Attrition Phase’ of Resistance

CrossFireArabia
October 7, 2024

Retired military Maj-Gen Fayez al-Duwairi said Abu Obeida’s speech, Hamas Qassam Brigades spokesman – heralds a new phase of resistance against the Israeli occupation.

Abu Obeida gave a speech on the occasion of the first anniversary of Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa and coincided with the military operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance factions against the Israeli occupation forces in the so-called Gaza envelope.

Duwairi explained that as stressed in Abu Obeida’s speech this coming phase of the battle is the stage of attrition, which means the resistance still has the ability to continue to confront the Israeli occupation army in the next phase.

Duwairi explained Abu Obeida’s announcement about the continuing attrition operations shows the Palestinian resistance is benefiting from its redeployment in the main axis of Rafah, Netzarim, buffer zones and in the incursion operations in areas such as Jabalia.

“We are facing a new phase of military operations that will pose a major challenge to the Israeli occupation in the long term,” he added.

Al-Duwairi addressed the issue of external support for Israel, stressing on the relationship between the occupation and some Western countries, led by the USA, plays a decisive role in the continuation of Israel’s s aggression on the Strip.

Al-Duwairi pointed out that Abu Obeida’s speech included clear criticism of Arab countries, accusing them of abandoning the Palestinian people, and sent a support message to the resistance in the West Bank, praising the efforts of the fighters there and calling for an escalation of operations against the occupation.

Regarding the file of Israeli prisoners held by the resistance, Al-Duwairi indicated Abu Obeida’s speech reveals the possibility of this file entering a “dark tunnel”, which further complicates the situation and makes the fate of the prisoners unknown.

Al-Duwairi believes that the next stage will witness an escalation in military and attritional operations against the occupation, in light of the field changes and internal and external pressures facing the Israeli entity.

This is Abu Obeida’s 28th speech since the Al-Aqsa flood, and comes three months after his last speech on 7 July.

Today, Monday, marks the first anniversary of the start of Israel’s war on Gaza which resulted in more than 139,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people.

Despite the passage of one year since the start of the war, Israel has failed to achieve any of its declared goals, especially recovering prisoners from the Strip and eliminating the capabilities of Hamas and the rest of the resistance factions as stated in Al Jazeera.