A senior Hamas commander has reappeared in a new video, seemingly alive and well after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced his death last May according to a report.
On Wednesday, footage of Hamas commander Hussein Fayyad surfaced in which he can be seen standing amongst the rubble in Gaza, apparently speaking at a funeral, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, reported Arab48.
منصات تنشر لقطات لأول ظهور علني لقائد كتيبة بيت حانون أبو حمزة فياض خلال تجواله على منازل المواطنين المهدمة منازلهم والذين فقدوا أحبائهم.
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) January 22, 2025
بيت حانون كانت أول البلدات التي دخلها الاحتلال ودمر منازلها وواصلت مقاومته حتى اللحظة الأخيرة قبل إعلان وقف إطلاق النار. pic.twitter.com/72lIWFVVII
"When the strong doesn't achieve its goals, it is defeated, but the weak, which prevented the strong from achieving its goals - it is the victor," Fayyad could be heard saying, praising Gaza's resistance to Israel's military onslaught.
"Thanks to God, the Israeli army only got stones, body parts and blood," he said, saying that Gaza remains defiant. "Gaza has emerged unbreakable. We all saw yesterday how Gaza stood victorious, with its head held high," he continued.
Fayyad is the commander of Hamas' battalion in Beit Hanoun, which was an area Israel targeted early on during its offensive in 2023.
"In the absence of another group willing to govern Gaza, Hamas will continue to run operations with figures like Fayyad,"Dr Michael Milshtein, a senior researcher at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, told The Jerusalem Post.
Following the emergence of the video, the Israeli military admitted that their announcement in May was prompted by flawed intelligence. This new information has resulted in newfound questions towards the information provided by the IDF and their credibility.
On Sunday, Hamas freed three Israeli hostages while Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners, symbolizing the beginning of a ceasefire agreement that has paused Israel's assault in the Gaza strip.
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