Al-Quds Brigades fighters, illustrative image.
On May 21, the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, revealed that 19 of its fighters and commanders were killed in the recent battle in the Gaza Strip.
The battle started on May 10, when Palestinian factions fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza at Jerusalem in response to Israeli plans to evict a number of Arab families from the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood in the city. The heated battle came to an end on May 21 with an Egypt-brokered ceasefire.
In a statement, the al-Quds Brigades acknowledged that 15 of its fighters were killed in the battle, along with the four following commanders:
- Sameh al-Mamlouk, Commander of the rocket unit in the northern region;
- Muhammad Abu al-Ata, a field commander in the rocket unit of the Gaza Brigade;
- Kamal Quraiq, a field commander in the rocket unit of the Gaza Brigade;
- Hussam Abu Harbid, Commander of the Northern Brigade.
An official poster by the al-Quds Brigades commemorating the fallen commanders and fighters.
Al-Mamlouk, Abu al-Ata and Quraiq were killed together in an Israeli strike that targeted their hideoust on May 11, while Harbid was killed in a strike on his house on May 17.
In a joint operation by the IDF and the ISA: a strike targeting the hideout of members of the PIJ rocket unit was carried out, killing the head of the special rocket unit of the PIJ, Samah Abed Al-Mamluk and other senior members. Read more >>> https://t.co/hFJmbqlZG4 pic.twitter.com/zG9o6I4lrT
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) May 11, 2021
The ISA and IAF fighter jets thwarted Hasam Abu Harbid, Commander of the Northern Division of the Islamic Jihad. Abu Harbid was a commander in the organization for over 15 years, and was behind several anti-tank missile terror attacks against Israeli civilians, pic.twitter.com/cod4MpnM6I
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) May 17, 2021
Israel claims that dozens of Palestinian fighters were killed in its strikes on Gaza. Nevertheless, the numbers revealed by the al-Quds Brigades indicate the final death toll may be not as high as promoted by Tel Aviv.
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas Movement and the largest of Gaza’s factions, is yet to reveal its losses.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza after Israeli attacks was 227 people, including 64 children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
