Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was martyred at dawn on March 22, 2004 after an Israeli Apache helicopter fired 3 missiles at him (Getty)

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation was one of the fruits of the jihad of the movement’s founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, on the 20th anniversary of his martyrdom.

The movement said, in a statement on the occasion of the anniversary, that it would continue on the path of Ahmed Yassin, “in defense of our people, our land, and our sanctities until the end of the Israeli occupation.”

Hamas indicated in its statement that the assassination of the founding sheikh was a new birth in the path of the movement and the resistance, and it has become more powerful and determined, and stressed that it will remain loyal to the approach, blood, and sacrifices of Sheikh Yassin and the martyred leaders.

It called for the continuation of all forms of steadfastness, steadfastness, and defense of the land, Jerusalem, and Al-Aqsa Mosque, until “our rights are taken away, our land and holy sites are liberated, and the occupation is defeated and eliminated,” as stated in the statement.

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, along with others, founded in the Gaza Strip on December 14, 1987, an organization to resist the Israeli occupation, which he called the Hamas movement.

The crippled sheikh was martyred at dawn on March 22, 2004, corresponding to Safar 1, 1425, after an Israeli Apache helicopter fired three missiles at him while he was leaving in his wheelchair from the Islamic Complex Mosque in the Al-Sabra neighborhood in the Gaza Strip.

In this operation, which was supervised by then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, seven of the Sheikh’s companions were martyred and two of his sons were wounded.

This anniversary comes at a time when the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, have been waging fierce battles with the occupation army for 6 months.

Al-Qassam and other Palestinian brigades launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel at dawn on Saturday, October 7, 2023, and included a land, sea and air attack and the infiltration of resistance fighters into several settlements around the Gaza Strip.

Source: Al Jazeera