TEHRAN – The armed wing of Hamas issues a stark warning to the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in Gaza.

Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, stated that the losses sustained by the IOF in Khan Younis and Jabalia represent a model of the resistance’s ongoing special operations.

In a post on the social media platform, Telegram, Abu Ubaida said: “What happened is a glimpse of what awaits the occupation forces wherever they are present.”

He emphasized that resistance fighters continue to demonstrate the triumph of the oppressed and faithful over a cruel and arrogant enemy.

He added, "The fighters, inheritors of the prophets, are launching the stones of David at Gideon’s Chariots, striking at the arrogance of the Israeli occupation.”

“Gideon’s Chariots” is the codename used by the Israeli regime when it resumed its genocidal war on Gaza.

Abu Ubaida warned that the Israeli public has only two choices: “pressure their leadership to halt the genocidal war or prepare to receive more of their children in coffins.”

Israeli media reported that Hamas was well-prepared for the current ground invasion, having studied the IOF’s procedures and begun booby-trapping buildings in anticipation.

The Israeli military acknowledged the deaths of four soldiers, including members of its elite Maglan Unit and the Yahalom engineering unit in a deadly ambush carried out by the Palestinian resistance inside a booby-trapped building in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

According to Israeli Army Radio, the Maglan Unit entered a building in Khan Younis, accompanied by engineering teams from Yahalom. Five minutes after they entered, an explosive device detonated, causing the building to collapse on top of the soldiers.

The explosion and subsequent collapse killed four soldiers and severely injured five others, according to the IOF. 

An initial investigation revealed that recovering the bodies from beneath the rubble took nearly six hours, amid heavy Israeli artillery fire and aerial cover provided by fighter jets.

Earlier reports from Israeli media indicated that five soldiers were killed and at least a dozen wounded in a similar explosion in Khan Younis, where they had been sheltering inside a fortified structure.

Israeli media noted that this week has been the IOF’s deadliest since December, with eight soldiers killed in just three days.

Another complex ambush in the northern region of Jabalia led to further casualties among the IOF. 

On Saturday, Hebrew media reported that an IOF member sustained injuries in a mortar shell attack in Shejaiya, northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, fierce battles are ongoing in Khan Younis alongside intense Israeli artillery shelling and intermittent clashes in Jabalia and other parts of Gaza, as the Palestinian resistance movement maintains its operations across various fronts.

Coinciding with the first days of Eid, the Palestinian resistance forces escalated operations. The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the al-Quds Brigades, announced a joint mortar attack with the al-Qassam Brigades targeting an Israeli command-and-control center southeast of Khan Younis. 

The Al-Quds Brigades also confirmed that its fighters detonated a pre-planted, high-powered barrel bomb against an IOF military vehicle near the town of Khuza’a in Khan Younis.

Another similar device was used to destroy an Israeli vehicle on a street in the town of al-Qarara, north of Khan Younis. 

The group has also released footage showing its fighters ambushing the IOF in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza, using a powerful explosive device in a precisely executed ambush.