Zionist entity escalates assassinations in Gaza
Israel has escalated its assassination campaign against leaders and activists of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. The Israeli army assassinated Muhammad al-Yazouri, known as Abu al-Haytham, commander of the Khan Younis Brigade in the al-Qassam Brigades, after targeting him with a drone while he was walking in the Mawasi area. Hudaifa Abu Muamar, an engineer within the Brigades, was also killed.
Meanwhile, as part of the boasting and election propaganda by the far-right minister, Betzalel Smotrich, the Federation of Settlement Farms, which operates under his supervision, revealed for the first time in a decade a map showing that these settlement farms now span a vast area exceeding 1.1 million dunams in the West Bank.
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat learned from field sources within Hamas that al-Yazouri was not quickly identified, as his body was reduced to fragments and severely mutilated, including his face, which made identifying the target difficult. He remained unidentified until he suddenly lost contact, prompting some of his close associates to try to determine if he was the target. It was confirmed in the early hours of dawn that he was among the victims.
According to two sources, al-Yazouri took charge of the Khan Younis Brigade in the al-Qassam Brigades shortly after the assassinations of the Brigades’ leaders Ezzedine al-Qassam and Muhammad Odeh, who were killed within a period of less than ten days in May last year.
The two sources indicated that al-Yazouri had previously commanded the central and western areas of Khan Younis before becoming the overall brigade commander. They noted that he was not appointed brigade commander after the assassination of the previous commander, Rafeh Salama, who was killed alongside Muhammad al-Daif, the overall commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, in a strike targeting a building in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in July 2024. Salama was a close associate of al-Yazouri, and the two had lived in adjacent homes before their residences were destroyed during the war.
