Abu Obeida, the spokesman for The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, recently continued his psychological warfare against the Israelis – government, civilians, and military alike. His latest appearance, both in voice and image, was last Sunday evening, and he bolstered the fierce combat the Palestinian resistance in Gaza Strip has been waging against the heavily armed Israeli occupation forces.
The Slayer of Fathers and Forefathers
In a fiery and logically robust speech, Abu Obeida took pride in what he deservedly described as the most significant asset of Al-Qassam Brigades – the Palestinian fighter. He hailed the fighter as a “resistor and mujahid” endowed with remarkable determination, willpower, and resilience to confront the occupation, perpetrator of past and ongoing violence against parents, ancestors, families, friends, and children.
Abu Obeida’s depiction of Palestinian resistance fighters is no exaggeration and is widely recognized by the general public and military experts alike, as evidenced by video clips published by the military media of Al-Qassam Brigades and Al-Quds Brigades in Gaza. “The Palestinian fighter” has managed to humble the pride of the Israeli army, bring down the myth of deterrence and superiority, and cause their soldiers to flee the battlefields screaming like children. Furthermore, thousands of these soldiers have ended up seeking psychological treatment, aside from the dead and wounded, so much so that some Israeli soldiers consider the Gazan fighters as specters.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Principle Documents
Where does the “Palestinian fighter” derive such audacity and indomitable will, as displayed in video clips of close combat and manual IED placement on tanks, causing explosions? What motivates him to risk his life so fearlessly before death? How was he prepared and trained to fortify his will and psyche to such an extraordinary level of resilience?
Most of the fighters in Gaza – and in the West Bank – are associated with the Islamic movements, primarily Hamas (Al-Qassam Brigades) and to a lesser extent Islamic Jihad (Al-Quds Brigades). According to the foundational principles of both movements, they are driven by religious reference and oppose the Zionist entity as an aggressive, racist, expansionist project. While Hamas shows political flexibility, Islamic Jihad exhibits greater rigor.
For both entities, armed resistance against the occupation is a religious duty aimed at liberating Palestine (from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea) with Jerusalem as its capital, without conceding any Palestinian land. Their resistance, based on Islamic doctrine, must adhere to wartime values and ethics – not killing women, children, or the elderly, and treating prisoners with compassion, as corroborated by Israeli prisoners released during the seven-day ceasefire in the current conflict.
The Combat Doctrine.. and The Blessed Land
Any soldier or fighter, Palestinian or otherwise, is driven by a “combat doctrine” with three components as identified by experts: material (the act of combat itself, methodologies, and tactics), intellectual (perspective on the conflict and its foundations and goals), and doctrinal or spiritual – for the Palestinian resistance, this entails the significant Islamic doctrine that elevates “Palestine” as it encompasses the holy city of Jerusalem, the blessed land, the Prophet Muhammad’s night journey and ascension, and the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
Principle documents of Hamas and Islamic Jihad underscore this idea – the occupation of Palestinian territories and desecration of holy sites, along with the desire to liberate Al-Aqsa Mosque from Zionist control, serve as a strong incentive for the Palestinian fighter to engage against the Israeli occupier, epitomized in the chosen name “Al-Aqsa’s Flood.”
Victory or Martyrdom.. and Brigadier General Al-Duwairy
According to military expert Brigadier General Fayez Al-Duwairy, Palestinian fighters proceed with audacity and daring, fully aware there’s a 99% chance of being killed (thus attaining martyrdom), yet they do not hesitate due to their cultural, mental, and doctrinal upbringing. The Palestinian fighter’s creed, whether affiliated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or other groups, is captured in the slogan “It’s Jihad; Victory or Martyrdom,” used by Abu Obeida to conclude his speeches and military statements. The fighter is poised between two objectives: achieving victory and liberating the occupied lands, or attaining martyrdom in God’s path, hoping for the divinely promised paradise.
Aside from this psychological, moral, and combatant makeup, Palestinian fighters have another motivation – the mass Nazi-like atrocities and recurring massacres every few years by the occupying army against the people of Gaza, which create resentment and a sense of oppression among those who have endured them, be they children, youth, or adults.
The Volcano and the Desire for Retribution
One cannot expect those who have lived through such horrendous humanitarian catastrophes in Gaza or the West Bank, or heard from their parents or grandparents about their suffering from Zionist atrocities in Palestine, including murder and forced displacement, to forgive or forget. A person who has experienced such desperation due to these horrors will undoubtedly feel a profound sense of oppression and an unstoppable volcanic desire for revenge and retribution against these Nazi-like Zionists with a record of massacres dating back to the 1940s and the tragedy of 1948.
What can be expected of someone who has internalized these holocausts or has heard narratives of ancestral suffering from the Zionist bloodbaths? Evidently, such a person will seize the chance for vengeance, joining resistance ranks, sacrificing life to punish the murderers of loved ones. Therefore, in his last speech, Abu Obeida mentioned that this despised Nazi entity has created future fighters and enemies in every Palestinian and Arab household.
Indeed, the steadfast, resistant, mujahid fighter Abu Obeida speaks of is “the most crucial weapon” of the resistance, poised to write the final chapter for this criminal entity.
