HAMAS has vowed revenge for the Dubai killing of Abdul Mabhuh, at a Gaza rally attended by tens of thousands of people on Thursday evening.
One of the speakers at the rally was Abu-Ubaydah, spokesman of the Al-Qassam Brigades, who began his speech by saying that, ‘There are tens of thousands of Palestinian Mujahideen in Palestine who will keep their manly pledges and follow in your footsteps al-Mabhuh. Peace be upon you!
‘We will ignite the fire of wrath to avenge your pure blood.’
He added that Al-Mabhuh has shown that ‘Jihad and martyrdom are the only right way for the nation of Arabs and Muslims,’ and says that Al-Mabhuh’s abduction of soldiers ‘will continue to be the strategy of the Al-Qassam Brigades as long as there is even one prisoner in the occupation’s jails’.
Accusing the Mossad of the assassination, Abu-Ubaydah further says that, ‘today we tell the Zionists that the decision to kill and avenge the martyrdom of the great commander Al-Mabhuh has already been made, and the revenge will be in proportion to the crime, God willing.’
Dr Khalil al-Hayyah, member of Hamas Political Bureau, addressed the crowd. He eulogised Al-Mabhuh, saying that, ‘it is time for commander Mahmud to rest, after a quarter of a century of Jihad, sacrifice, and resistance.’
Al-Hayyah added that all members of Hamas promise Al-Mabhuh to complete what he had started and ‘liberate all of Palestine’ from the ‘Zionist criminals’.
On 17 February, the Izz-al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, posted to its official website a statement in which the brigades threatens the assassins of Al-Mabhuh and pledges to take revenge for his death.
Moreover, the brigades directly accuse ‘the Zionists’of the assassination. The statement, dated 17 February, is attributed to the Media Office of Izz-al-Din al-Qassam Brigades-Palestine.
The statement reads: ‘God’s peace be upon you, Abu-al-Abd al-Mabhuh, on the day of your rebirth.
‘God’s peace be upon you on the day you leave behind tens of thousands of sincere mujahideen, who reiterate the manly oath to continue on the path that you started.
‘God’s peace be upon you while you ignite the fire of enragement to take vengeance for your chaste blood.
‘God’s peace be upon you on the day that you acquire what you wished after you requested martyrdom for the cause of God. Consequently, God awarded you the honour of martyrdom.
‘God’s peace be upon you; you were the one who carried out the unique jihadist initiatives from capturing soldiers to supporting the mujahideen, and making precise military plans.
‘God’s peace be upon you, our commander, while you seek martyrdom, in the home of Arabs, to ensure that the exclusive path and the ideal route for the Arab Ummah and the Muslims is the path of jihad and martyrdom for the cause of God.
‘God’s peace be upon you Abu-al-Abd while you expose your criminal killers.
‘God’s peace be upon you while you depart from life while you are on the path of jihad and resistance. You have never deviated, diverged, or departed the path of jihad and resistance, and you have never preferred earthly life.
‘God’s peace be upon you in the paradises of God, accompanied by the prophets, martyrs, and the pious men, and they are the best companions. We do not recommend anyone before God.
‘We are not here today to eulogise the martyr, to mention his history, or narrate the biography of his jihad. These prominent people are not to be introduced as though their deeds narrate their biographies, or that the marks they leave behind speak about them.
We are not here to give full rein to our words because the statements of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades are fiery, and not just words and sentences. We did not come here to raise the slogans; however, we came today to tell our enemy, who committed this crime: Undoubtedly, vengeance will be taken and the punishment will be similar to your deeds.
‘We say to the Zionists: The decision to retaliate and avenge the death of the martyr, the great commander, Mahmud al-Mabhuh, has been taken, and it will be equivalent to the crime, God willing.
‘O killers, now all you have to do is to wait, as we are the bearers of the martyr’s blood and our mission is to take vengeance and your destiny is to live in fear and terror, and to live under the obsession of fear.
‘We, who will specify the appropriate mechanism to fulfil our promise, will not, however, inform you as to how, where, and when it will take place. Be ready to receive the fire of our anger, according to our special method and our skillful performance, and at the time and place that we allocate.
‘When we say “manly oath”, we accurately understand what we say. We do not launch hollow or empty words; rather, our words are predictions for future events.
‘Today, you will hear our words, but tomorrow you will see fire, bullets, and action. Since you have chosen the path of treason, assassination, and criminality, and you have widened the circle of your terror and assaults, you will see the punishment of your acts.
‘You should know that Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades is capable of retaliation, God willing, and that its options and alternatives are plain for you to see. If you have carried out your crime through Mossad, we have what can hurt, worry, and endanger your security, and make you live in terror wherever you go.
‘We remind you, if you do not remember or understand, that Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades have made you accustomed, throughout its history, to retaliations for the assassination of its commanders – the commanders of our people and its mujahideen. This time our retaliation will not be different than before. When you assassinated Yahya Ayyash, our vengeance was tough, through the heroic martyrdom operations, which shook your authority in the middle 90’s.
‘Furthermore, since you shed our blood at the beginning of this uprising, our qualitative operations starting from 2002, which changed the reality of the conflict, have taken place.
‘Moreover, when you assassinated the Shaykh of mujahideen, Ahmad Yassin, and Dr Abd-al-Aziz al-Rantisi , we intensified the war of tunnels, which terrified your soldiers and expelled you from Gaza.
‘When you continued your war against our people, we developed our rockets, altered the situation, and changed the rules of the encounter.
‘Today, when you chose this method of assassination and allowed yourself to enter our countries and kill our commanders, do you think that we will be unable to retaliate or that we won’t have the option? No, this will not happen and the method of our jihad will be applied to you until God ordains a matter that is already enacted.
‘Besides, we would like to confirm an issue that was always unnoticed by our enemies and which their devils drove them away from. We say it to them as well as to the sons of our people and Ummah.
‘The seed that was planted by our commander, Abu-al-Abd al-Mabhuh, and his brothers, will continue to be fruitful and it will yield more fruit, God willing.
‘Our martyr has planted the method of capturing Zionist soldiers and moved to another arena; however, his seed has produced more and more capturing operations, which were crowned by the capture of the Zionist soldier Gilad Shalit.’
‘If Abu-al-Abd excelled in another field of his jihadist work after he left Palestine, he also left scores of commanders and soldiers to carry on in his path.
‘Be certain that that mentality and performance will grow and persist and the enemy will not enjoy harvesting any fruit, as a consequence of assassinating him using this cowardly method.
‘Moreover, the role that was initiated by Commander Mahmud al-Mabhuh in detaining the soldiers of the enemy will continue to be a strategy of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades as long as there is one captive in the prisons of the occupation.
‘Furthermore, we will not refute the martyr’s path that we have covered for the sake of our imprisoned brothers, and the memory of martyr Al-Mabhuh will continue to be present in our work, which aims to liberate the captives, whatever it takes. Our brigades and movements, that have presented this abundant noble blood for the cause of the captives, are capable of achieving their promise, God willing.
‘At this time, today, we are sending a message through the folds of this blessed covenant; a message for all those who listen and pay heed, particularly our enemies, those who threaten new aggression in Gaza Strip, to expose his power in front of our people, seeking an illusionary military achievement.
‘We address them and say: The Gaza Strip, which introduced people such as Commander Mahmud Mabhuh, will continue to be a poisoned thorn in your throats and an unsolvable equation. If your previous war has ended with a big zero, then you misled yourselves and claimed that you had achieved your goals, and after your mask has fallen, and your failure and frustration appear, we advise you not to repeat this experience, because it will cause you nothing but more failure and frustration and will cause you more troubles.
‘You should know that Gaza did not and will not collapse; rather, our brigades and resistance will take on whatever you throw at it.’
