From the BBC – Israel's military says it has uncovered a scam by Hamas militants to spy on its soldiers by hacking their mobile phones after posing as women on social media. Members of the Palestinian group found the soldiers online, then tried to strike up a friendship using the fake identities, an officer told reporters. Dozens of soldiers were persuaded to install an application that controlled their phone cameras and microphones. However, the officer said Hamas was not able to uncover any major secrets. Most of the soldiers were low-ranking, he added, and the scammers were interested in information about Israeli army manoeuvres, forces and weaponry around the Hamas-dominated Gaza Strip. more

The Hamas movement’s military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades Saturday evening released a statement confirming that the Tunisian aviation engineer Muhammad al-Zawahri who was allegedly assassinated on Thursday in Tunisia was one its leaders and manufactured drones for the movement. The statement described al-Zawahri, 45, as a “martyr of Palestine, Tunisia, and the Arab and Islamic nations,” adding that the slain official, who is believed to have been assassinated by the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, was a leader of Hamas’ military wing. Hamas directly accused Israel of the assassination, saying that “the coward Zionist hands assassinated the al-Qassam Brigades leader,” and called al-Zawahri the “pioneer of the Arab Spring and the sponsor of the Palestinian revolution and resistance.” The statement highlighted that the Ababil drones, the Iranian-developed drone reportedly manufactured by al-Zawahri, played a major role in the resistance during the 2014 Israeli mili...

A Hamas official claimed in an interview with Hamas-affiliated channel Al-Aqsa TV on Saturday that the Islamist movement had enough missiles at its disposal to supply to armies of Arab countries should they be willing to fight Israel. Fathi Hammad said in the interview on Saturday evening that Hamas was “ready to ship missiles manufactured by the movement's military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, to Arab armies so as to fight the Zionist entity." He boasted that the group "has developed a touch in military manufacturing which can compete with international manufacturers." Hammad did not elaborate on where these weapons were being manufactured, nor how the Hamas movement, which rules the heavily blockaded Gaza Strip, was able to obtain the materials necessary for the production of an excess of missiles. more

A member of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, was killed in Gaza on Saturday after an underground tunnel collapsed on him. According to a statement released by the Brigades, Anas Salameh Abu Lashin from al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip was killed in the tunnel collapse. A number of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the vast tunnel networks that lie below the besieged enclave, which are largely used for smuggling in the south and military purposes in the north. In April and May, Israeli forces claimed to have uncovered the first two tunnels crossing from the Gaza Strip into Israel since Israel's devastating offensive on Gaza in 2014. Israeli officials have accused Hamas of "preparing" for another war with Israel and have threatened retaliatory measures against the Gaza Strip as a whole. However, despite Hamas' inflammatory rhetoric against Israel, the movement has not officially claimed responsibility f...

Hamas' military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said Monday that one of its members had died in an accident during a "jihadi mission" in the northern Gaza Strip. The brigades said in a statement that 24-year-old Musab Muhammad al-Sheikh, from Jabaliya in northern Gaza, was accidentally shot dead by a bullet from his own gun. Further details on the circumstances of his death and the nature of the "mission" were not provided. Al-Sheikh's funeral was scheduled for Monday at 12 p.m. in Jabaliya refugee camp. more

Hamas’ military wing announced on social media on Thursday that seven of its fighters were killed when a tunnel collapsed in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. "Al-Qassam Brigades mourn the death of 7 Qassam members who were (killed) during their work inside a resistance tunnels in Gaza," the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades posted on their Twitter account on Thursday morning. The group identified those who died in the tunnel as Thabet al-Rifi, Ghazwan al-Shubaki, Izz al-Din Qassem, Wassim Hassouneh, Mahmoud Basal, Nidal Odeh, and Jaafar Hamadeh. Hamas security sources had previously said in a statement that more than 10 fighters were in a tunnel when it collapsed due to heavy rain on Tuesday. The Qassam Brigades said the fighters had been working on rebuilding the tunnel at the time of the accident. br> The fate of the remaining fighters was still unspecified. more

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, has reported that one of its fighters was killed, Monday, while working in one of its border tunnels. In a press release, the al-Qassam said Majed Sakani, from Shejaeyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, died while working in the tunnel. On Saturday, August 29, the Al-Qassam Brigades said one of its fighters was killed in a tunnel accident, in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Dozens of Palestinians not affiliated with Hamas or other armed resistance groups, have been killed and injured in tunnel accidents, while working to provide food for their families in the impoverished and besieged coastal region. more

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – A member of Hamas’ military died on Sunday morning, sources in Gaza told Ma'an. The sources said 30-year-old Ibrahim Ihsan Dmeida from Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip went into coma late on Saturday night shortly before he passed away. Dmeida was being treated of wounds he sustained previously when an an explosive device went off severing his foot and hand in 2006. During 2006, Israeli Security Forces fired some 14,000 artillery shells into the Gaza Strip. more

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Hamas' military wing on Wednesday claimed that it had taken over an Israeli drone last month and rebuilt it to make it operational, a statement said. The Al-Qassam Brigades said it had captured an Israeli SKYLARK1 drone on July 22. "Security checks were conducted, and the systems and technologies installed in the drone were examined, and then the unit rebuilt it and put the drone to use in the service of the al-Qassam Brigades," the group said. Hamas said the achievement was dedicated to the Palestinian youth. Last July Israel shot down a Hamas drone near the southern city of Ashkelon close to the Gaza border and in a separate incident downed another off the Mediterranean port of Ashdod, 17 miles north of Gaza and a similar distance south of Tel Aviv. more

Hamas' military wing announced, on Wednesday night, that it developed two new homemade rockets, and gave them names of slain leaders. In a rally held in the central square of the Gaza City to mark the first anniversary of latest Israeli onslaught against Gaza, Hamas Military Wing Al-Qassam Brigades announced developing new rockets. Days of Palestine reports that, as hundreds of people were called to witness the announcement of the two rockets, Al-Qassam Spokesman Abu-Obaida praised Al-Qassam fighters and mourned those martyred during Israeli war on Gaza. Abu-Obaida said that the two new rockets were given the names of the two most senior Qassam leaders assassinated by the Israeli occupation, during the war; Raed al-Attar and Mohamed abu-Shammaleh. Brigades members, their faces covered with black Palestinian scarves (Kufiyeh), stood in front of what appeared to be models of two rockets about three to four metres (9 to 13 feet) in length aboard the bed of a military truck. more

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A member of Hamas' military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, died on Friday while working in a tunnel to be used for military activities, Hamas said. Issam Omar al-Kattani, from the Shujaiyeh neighborhood, died while working inside a "resistance tunnel," the brigades said in a statement, without adding any further details. A member of Hamas' politburo, Khalil al-Hayya, said at al-Kattani's funeral procession that the "soldiers of al-Qassam brigades will continue to build more tunnels which have become the greatest weapon to defeat the occupation." A spokesman for the Gaza health ministry told AFP that two others were "moderately injured" in the tunnel collapse. more

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The military wing of Hamas, al-Qassam Brigades, said Monday evening that a fighter affiliated to the group had been killed in a tunnel collapse in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. Al-Qassam Brigades identified the fighter as 25-year-old Mahmoud Adel Ghaban from Beit Lahiya. A number of fighters in Gaza have been killed by accidents during military training exercises in recent years, and the tunnel networks, which are largely used for smuggling in the coastal enclave's south and military purposes in the north, are notoriously dangerous. more

Hamas' military wing Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades said that one of their fighters died in a tunnel collapse on Saturday in the northern Gaza Strip. In a statement the Brigades identified the fighter as Nihad Awad Khleif, 30, from Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. A number of fighters in Gaza have been killed by accidents during military training exercises in recent years, and the tunnel networks, which are largely used for smuggling in the coastal enclave's south and for military purposes in the north, are notoriously dangerous. The Institute for Palestine Studies reported in 2012 that Hamas authorities had counted 160 deaths inside the tunnels since the Israeli blockade began in 2007, and in August 2014, Al-Jazeera reported that figure to be as high as 400. more

The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, said Saturday that a fighter was killed while on duty. The brigades said in a statement that Nafeth Said al-Mughni from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip was killed after being hit with a bullet in an accident, but did not give further details surrounding his death. Training by the al-Qassam Brigades has continued since the end of last summer's war between Israel and Palestinian militant groups. In March, the group's official website reported that it had rebuilt a number of military bases near the Israeli border in the Gaza Strip, and asserted that it had recovered from Israel's summer offensive and was "not afraid" of confronting the occupation again. Israel's alleged objective in the summer offensive had been to end rocket fire from Gaza, which Hamas said came in response to Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. more

Deputy Head of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh said Thursday that his movement would continue to use armed resistance against the Israeli state. "Hamas negotiates with the enemy with arms, not talks," the senior official said during a press conference commemorating Palestinian Prisoner's Day and the death of Hamas co-founder Abd al-Aziz al-Rantisi. Al Rantisi was killed by Israeli forces in 2004 along with his 27-year-old son, a body guard, and four bystanders in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is committed to its principles and visions and prisoners will not be forgotten, Haniyeh added. His remarks came as Hamas official Khalil al-Haya called for the abduction of Israelis, who could be swapped for Palestinians held by Israel. more

A fighter of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, was killed on Thursday during training in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The Brigades said in a statement that Ahmad Nimr al-Ghazzawi, 21, had been killed during the training but did not provide any more information regarding the details of his death. Training by the al-Qassam Brigades has continued despite Israeli threats and the recent classification of Hamas as a terrorist organization by neighboring Egypt. Earlier this month the group's official website reported that it had rebuilt a number of military bases near the Israeli border in the Gaza Strip, asserting that it had recovered from Israel's summer offensive and was "not afraid" of confronting the occupation again. more

The military wing of Hamas on Saturday said that it had rebuilt a number of military bases near the Israeli border in the Gaza Strip, asserting that it had recovered from Israel's summer offensive and was "not afraid" of confronting the occupation again. "No sooner has the war come to an end, than the al-Qassam Brigades started a new stage of the conflict in preparation for the battle of liberation," a report on the official website of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades said. The report said that fighters from the group had rebuilt military training sites near the border in the north, east, and west of the Gaza Strip, giving lie to Israeli claims that "Operation Protective Edge" in July-August 2014 had caused the group serious damage. Israel's aim in the operation had been to end rocket fire from Gaza, which Hamas says comes in response to Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But at the end of 50 days of warfare, P...

GAZA CITY (AFP) -- Hatem is only 14 but has already lived through three wars with Israel. Now the young Palestinian says he is making sure he'll be ready to fight in the next one. "The Israelis killed my niece last summer. Now I want to kill them," he told AFP after completing a week-long youth training camp with militants from the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. "I will become a resistance fighter," the boy said proudly during a graduation ceremony in Gaza. Hatem is one of 17,000 youngsters who graduated late last month from two military training camps where Hamas -- the de facto power in Gaza -- said it was preparing the next generation to fight against Israel. Last summer, Israel and Hamas militants fought a 50-day war that killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 73 Israelis, the majority soldiers, and left swathes of the impoverished enclave in ruins. It was their third conflict in less than five years, following an eight...

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouq on Sunday lashed out against Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a day after the Egyptian leader heaped blame on Hamas for their alleged support of a Wahhabi insurgency in the Sinai peninsula. The current regime in Egypt is a "coup against the history, the ethics, and the principles of Egypt," the Hamas official said in a statement on his Facebook page. Abu Marzouq's statement came a day after an Egyptian court declared Hamas' military wing Ezzedine al-Qassam a "terrorist group" and banned it, in what many saw as a political move. Egyptian officials have long blamed both Hamas and their Egyptian allies the Muslim Brotherhood for the ongoing insurgency in the Sinai, even though both have denied it and the insurgency is led by an ideologically and politically distinct group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis. "History has credited the al-Qassam Brigades with a sophisticated and civilized approach to Egyptian inte...

A report on a Lebanese satellite channel on Saturday claimed that an Israeli man who was swept out to sea while swimming off the coast of southern Israel is now being held by Hamas. The report was aired on al-Mayadeen, a channel known for its sympathies with the Palestinian cause and Hezbollah, and could not immediately be confirmed. The channel said that the man, who is Jewish of Ethiopian origin, was being held in Gaza, where he ended up on shore after the tide took him. It also said that Israeli authorities had refused to acknowledge the incident, but were planning to invent a "story" with the individual's family claiming he was "mentally ill." The report also suggested that racism played a role in the lack of attention given to the case, as it claimed that neither the Israeli government nor right-wing parties had taken up the issue due to the man's African heritage. more