Hamas Parades Armed Fighters In Gaza After Ceasefire, Israel Strikes Kill Palestinians

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, chose a new armed conflict with Israel, described as the seventh of its kind, with thousands of masked fighters of the Brigades Ezzedine al-Qassam parading in Gaza with “lance-roquettes, des roquettes et un drone” a week after a ceasefire took effect.

“The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), published a video documenting aspects of the life of Martyr أحمد خميس أبو يونس (66 years old), one of the fighters of كتيبة الشهيد محمد أبو شمالة belonging to لواء رفح, who was martyred during the Battle of طوفان الأقصى”

Al-Jazeera Net

Radio France said the conflict was tied to two objectives, “nuire directement à Israël” and “affirmer son leadership sur la cause palestinienne,” and it placed the start of the latest fighting in the period around May 10.

Al-Jazeera Net

From 10 to 21 May, Radio France reported that 254 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, including 66 children and fighters, according to local authorities.

In Israel, Radio France said rocket fire from Gaza killed 12 people, including “un enfant, une adolescente et un soldat,” according to the police.

L'Express described the same post-ceasefire period as a military parade in Rafah, in the southern part of the Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas, where members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades paraded with an arsenal after the May 10 outbreak.

L'Express said the conflict erupted on May 10 after Hamas fired volleys of rockets toward Israel in solidarity with “les centaines de Palestiniens” injured during clashes with Israeli police in East Jerusalem, and it described East Jerusalem as the Palestinian sector of the Holy City occupied by Israel since 1967.

Radio France framed Hamas’s justification for hostilities as a reaction to Israel’s intervention on the esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem, while also describing Israel’s view of Hamas as an enemy that it considers a “terroriste” organization.

L'Express

After the truce, L'Express reported that “The two sides claimed victory after the truce,” and it said thousands of fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades paraded in several cities across the Palestinian territory.

Al-Jazeera Net shifted the focus to a specific Qassam Brigades fighter, publishing a video about “Martyr أحمد خميس أبو يونس (66 years old)” and describing how activists circulated clips and photos praising what they considered continued commitment despite his age.

In that same Al-Jazeera Net account, some wrote “the resistance knows no age,” linking the fighter’s participation and martyrdom to engagement on social media after the video’s release.

Al-Jazeera Net said the video was part of an edition titled “أقمار الطوفان” (Stars of the Storm), within the series “شهداء القسام في معركة طوفان الأقصى,” and it documented aspects of أحمد خميس أبو يونس’s life including military training and guard patrols.

“Publicité Le regard de l'autre | Le mouvement islamiste palestinien Hamas, qui contrôle la bande de Gaza, a donc fait le choix d’un nouveau conflit armé avec Israël”

Radio France

It identified him as belonging to كتيبة الشهيد محمد أبو شمالة “Tel al-Sultan” within لواء رفح, and it said he was martyred during the Battle of طوفان الأقصى and also described his martyrdom in October 2023 during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

The account said activists recalled his presence in Rafah’s mosques and his religious and social activity before the war, and it added that he worked as an engineer known within the Engineers Syndicate in Rafah.

Al-Jazeera Net also stated that, according to what was circulated, he was martyred along with several members of his family, including his wife, his children, and his grandchildren, after an Israeli airstrike targeted his home in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood.

Within the broader documentary campaign described by Al-Jazeera Net, the releases aim—according to activists—to evoke the biographies of fighters martyred during the war on the Gaza Strip and re-present them within the narrative of the Battle of طوفان الأقصى.