The following statement was issued by the Martyr Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, on July 31, 2024, by the Resistance News Network. 

With the highest expressions of pride and honor, the Martyr Izz El-Din al-Qassam Brigades exalt to our struggling Palestinian people, to the masses of our Arab and Islamic nation and its valiant resistance and to the free people of the world, the martyr leader fighter, Ismail Abdul Salam Haniyeh — the leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas — who was ascended in a cowardly Zionist assassination operation that targeted his residence in the Iranian capital, Tehran. 

In light of this Nazi crime, we affirm the following: 

Firstly: The martyr leader “Abu al-Abd” ascended after a life filled with giving, jihad and sacrifices, during which he accompanied various stages of the movement’s development and its jihadist journey. 

He had clear contributions and imprints at various stations, offering much for our Palestinian cause. He played an important role in strengthening the resistance, unifying the efforts of the nation’s sons, mobilizing their energies and directing the compass towards Al-Quds [Jerusalem].  His life was sealed with martyrdom in the most honorable of battles, the “Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood,” which our people and the free ones of our nation are fighting in defense of Al-Aqsa and the sanctities. 

Secondly: The criminal assassination operation against leader Haniyeh in the heart of the Iranian capital is a pivotal and dangerous event which moves the battle to new dimensions and will have major repercussions for the entire region. The enemy has miscalculated by expanding the scope of aggression, assassinating resistance leaders in various arenas and violating the sovereignty of the countries of the region. The criminal Netanyahu, blinded by the madness of grandeur, is leading the Zionist entity towards the abyss, hastening its collapse and removal from the land of Palestine once and for all. 

Thirdly: The time has come for this Zionist arrogance to stop, for this raging enemy to be curbed and for its hand, which is wreaking havoc here and there, to be cut off to deter it from its aggression. The enemy’s continuous crimes in various arenas sound the alarm for all the countries and peoples of the region. This must motivate everyone to support and back the resistance in Palestine, as it is the advanced line of defense for the entire nation. Hence, the enemy is striving to break and subdue it to focus on the greater aggression against the nation’s countries and peoples. 

Fourthly: The blood of our leader Ismail Haniyeh, which today mixes with the blood of Gaza’s children, women, youth and elders, and with the blood of the sons and fighters of our people and nation, confirms that the resistance and its leaders are at the heart of the battle alongside their people. This pure and precious blood to Allah will certainly not be in vain but will be a beacon on the path of liberation. The enemy will pay the price for its aggression with its [own] blood in Gaza, the West Bank, inside its illegitimate entity and wherever the hands of our people’s fighters and our nation reach. 

And it is indeed a jihad of victory or martyrdom. 

This statement was lightly edited.