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January 23, 2025 | 10:15 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Hamas commander Hussein Fayyad, who the Israeli military claimed was killed in May, has appeared in a newly published video, according to Palestinian media outlet Arab48.
The footage, which was widely shared on social media on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, shows a man resembling Fayyad speaking at a cemetery in northern Gaza, standing amid the ruins of bombed buildings, with a group of people listening.
Fayyad was the commander of Hamas' Beit Hanoun Battalion. Beit Hanoun was one of the first areas targeted by Israel in 2023.
In his speech, he praised Gaza's resistance to the Israeli military offensive, saying, "When the strong does not achieve its goal, it is defeated, but the weak, who prevents the strong from achieving its goal, is the winner."
He also dismissed the Israeli attacks as futile.
"Thankfully, the Israeli army only gets stones, body parts and blood," he said, saying that Gaza remains defiant. "Gaza has risen and is unbreakable. We all saw yesterday how Gaza stood tall with its head held high," he added, as quoted by Middle East Eye.
The Israeli military has admitted that its claim that it killed a Hamas commander in May was based on faulty intelligence, Israeli daily Haaretz reports.
On Wednesday night, the IDF, the Times of Israel reported, admitted that it did not kill the commander of Hamas' Beit Hanoun battalion in May, after a recording published today showed the commander, Hussein Fayyad, was still alive.
In a statement, the IDF said that, after Fayyad was targeted in May, "with a high degree of probability, the IDF and Shin Bet determined that he had been eliminated, after which the IDF spokesman's statement on the matter was issued.
"After further examination, it turned out that the intelligence findings on which the Intelligence Directorate and Shin Bet were based were not sufficiently accurate," the military said.
Israel claimed in May that Fayyad, a senior commander in Hamas' Qassam Brigades, was killed in an underground operation in the Jabaliya tunnels.
In a statement at the time, the Israeli military said, "As part of the IDF's operational activities in the Jabaliya area, IAF and 'Yahalom' special forces eliminated terrorist Hussein Fiad, Commander of Hamas' Beit Hanoun Battalion, during special operational activities in the underground area."
According to his initial statement, he was responsible for coordinating anti-tank missiles fired into Israeli territory and mortar attacks on "Israeli communities near the northern Gaza Strip."
Its reappearance has raised questions about Israel’s credibility and its battlefield claims.
This is not the first time Israel has falsely claimed the killing of prominent figures, as the Times of Israel notes.
According to Israeli media reports, the Israeli army fought hard against Hamas’ Beit Hanoun Battalion. Initially viewed by the Israeli military as one of Hamas’ weaker arms, the battalion proved resilient.
Israeli reports say that Hamas’ Beit Hanoun Battalion adapted to the battlefield and began engaging in guerrilla warfare, which in January 2025 alone resulted in several Israeli soldiers being killed and wounded.
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