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Tunnels and commanders
Al-Qassam Brigades released new footage on Monday documenting battlefield activities of Ahmed Salim al-Ghamari, described as a platoon commander in the Badr al-Kubra Battalion of Al-Qassam’s Al-Shati Camp Brigade in western Gaza City, as he and his fighters remained inside a combat tunnel for more than 50 consecutive nights while directing military operations.
The video says al-Ghamari was killed on December 27, 2024, during direct confrontations with Israeli forces operating in Gaza City, and it shows him overseeing attacks against Israeli armored vehicles and troop carriers advancing along the western axis of Gaza City.
In a recorded message to his fighters, al-Ghamari told them, “To these young men who believed in their Lord and answered the call of God and then the homeland—to you, O noble ones, belong all the medals of heroism and sacrifice.”
In another scene, he directed a fighter preparing to strike an Israeli military vehicle, saying, “Advance, don’t flinch… wait for it, then strike.”
The release is described as part of ‘Flood Moons’, a documentary series produced by Al-Qassam that chronicles the lives of commanders and fighters killed during the war in Gaza following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in October 2023.
Airstrike on Awda
Three Hamas sources in the Gaza Strip confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Mohammed Awda, described as the new commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was assassinated by Israeli forces in an airstrike that targeted an apartment in the al-Rimal neighborhood in central Gaza City.
Asharq Al-Awsat reported that warplanes fired at least three missiles at the apartment, causing massive destruction, and that a woman passerby was killed and her children were injured while shopping at stores in the al-Rimal district.
The same report said about 20 minutes after the attack, a helicopter carried out another strike on a second residential apartment hundreds of meters from the first, injuring several people including a field commander in the Qassam’s intelligence apparatus.
Israel’s statement, as cited by Asharq Al-Awsat, said it targeted Mohammed Awda, the new commander of the Qassam Brigades, and a joint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said Awda was one of the architects of the October 7 massacre.
Asharq Al-Awsat also said Netanyahu stated Awda headed Hamas’s intelligence service and that Awda was appointed about a week earlier to replace Haddad, the commander of the Qassam Brigades, who was killed by the Israeli army on May 15 of the current year.
Ceasefire violations and tolls
Arab 48 reported that seven people were martyred and 20 others were wounded by Israeli gunfire in several areas of Gaza since Tuesday morning, while the Israeli army announced the killing of commanders in the elite forces and in the military intelligence unit of the Qassam Brigades as escalation and violations of the fragile ceasefire continued.
“Palestinians | The War on Gaza 2023 08/07/2026 - 00:15 Gaza: 7 martyrs and 20 injured by Israeli fire since this morning”
The report said medical sources in the Strip’s hospitals reported three deaths from an Israeli drone strike targeting a civilian vehicle in the Sabra neighborhood south of Gaza City, a man shot near the Mawasi area in Khan Younis, and another person killed by a drone strike targeting a tent housing displaced people on the coast of Gaza City.
Arab 48 added that the Israeli army announced the killing of Ahmed Yahya Ibrahim Bataash, described as a commander of a unit in the elite branch of Hamas, and said he was pushing for plans against Israeli forces operating in the Gaza Strip throughout the war.
It also said the Israeli army announced the killing of Hamouda Abu Daqa, a commander of the military intelligence unit in Hamas, and claimed he was involved in gathering intelligence about Israeli army forces with the aim of planning operations against them.
The same article cited Health Ministry data in the Strip, saying that since the truce took effect on Oct 11, 2025, 1,072 Palestinians have been martyred and 3,463 others wounded, and that the total toll of the Israeli aggression on Gaza since Oct 7, 2023 has risen to 73,098 martyrs and 173,571 injured.
