Al-Qassam Brigades Engage in Fierce Clashes with Israeli Forces in Eastern Rafah
Hamas's military wing reports zero-distance combat with Israeli troops amid ongoing Israeli ground incursions in southern Gaza, as international ceasefire efforts collapse.
Watan-On Thursday, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that its fighters are engaged in “fierce close-range combat” with Israeli occupation forces advancing into eastern Rafah, in southern Gaza.
In a statement on Telegram, Al-Qassam said:“We are engaged in fierce, point-blank clashes with enemy soldiers and vehicles in the incursion zone in the Al-Juneina neighborhood, east of Rafah City.”
As of 14:40 GMT, the Israeli army had not commented on the announcement, and Al-Qassam had not released further details.
These clashes come amid continued Israeli ground offensives, as Hamas attempts to repel the invasion. Since October 7, 2023, Israel—with U.S. support—has waged a war in Gaza described by many as genocidal, resulting in more than 172,000 Palestinians killed or injured, most of them women and children, along with over 11,000 missing persons.
In early March, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel—brokered by Egypt and Qatar and backed by the United States—came to an end. That agreement began on January 19, 2025, and Hamas adhered to it.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), withdrew from the second phase of the deal and resumed the military onslaught on March 18, allegedly under pressure from the far-right factions in his government to serve his political interests, according to Israeli media reports.
