The Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees, announced on Monday, May 19, that its special operations officer, Ahmad Kamel Sarhan, was assassinated in a clash with Israeli special forces in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis earlier that day.
Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said that an Israeli force, made up of nine personnel disguised as displaced women, infiltrated Sarhan’s house and then engaged in a direct clash with him. Sarhan was killed in the attack, while his wife and child (some sources say more than one child) were abducted by the soldiers, who reportedly used them as human shields to retreat from the area.
Dozens of airstrikes and artillery shelling were launched to secure the withdrawal of the Israeli unit, with a helicopter flying over the area. Some eyewitnesses also reported that the troops killed a child during their retreat.
The Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades mourned its assassinated commander in a statement, saying that he “engaged in a heroic clash with the special Israeli force that sought to arrest him, and managed to foil their operation before ascending to martyrdom.”
For its part, Hamas described the attempt by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) “to abduct” Sarhan as a “new defeat of the Israeli army and its terrorist command.” The movement further urged the international community to “condemn the abduction of Sarhan’s wife and child, and to intervene in order to protect them and secure their release.”
Israel denies carrying out captive rescue operation
While the two Palestinian resistance factions considered capturing Sarhan as the objective of the covert operation, some media outlets reported that it aimed at rescuing Israeli captives held in Khan Younis.
Analysts believe the second objective to be more likely than the first. They suggest that if Israel intended to assassinate the Palestinian commander, it would have targeted his house with an airstrike instead of putting its soldiers at risk.
Either way, it seems that the IOF was unable to achieve the goal set for the operation, therefore, it issued what Israeli media described as a “vague statement” suggesting that no such operation was carried out.
The IOF indicated in its statement that any military action taking place in the besieged Gaza strip is part of the so-called “Operation Gideon’s Chariots”, which started on Sunday, May 18.
Gideon’s Chariots is an expanded ground offensive, which Israel threatened to launch in early May, if no deal for releasing Israeli captives was reached with Hamas by the end of US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the West Asia region on Friday, May 16.
It is worth noting that Israel has started its deadly ground operation in Gaza while ceasefire talks are underway in the Qatari capital Doha, in a bid to pressure Hamas to accept its proposal.
UK, France, and Canada threaten Israel with sanctions over its escalation in Gaza, West Bank
The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada issued a strongly worded joint statement on Monday threatening to take “concrete” and “targeted” actions if Israel continues the expansion of its military operations, the restriction of humanitarian aid, the implementation of its forcible displacement plans in Gaza, and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
“We will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response,” the statement reads.
“We oppose any attempt to expand settlements in the West Bank. Israel must halt settlements which are illegal and undermine the viability of a Palestinian state and the security of both Israelis and Palestinians. We will not hesitate to take further action, including targeted sanctions,” the statement continues.
The leaders of the three countries also called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all Israeli captives, a long-term political solution, and a “pathway to a two-state solution”, noting that it is “the only way to bring long-lasting peace and security.”
