Abu Obeida, the military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has strongly praised a bold multi-site shooting operation carried out by Palestinian resistance fighters in the illegal settlement of Kochav Yair and surrounding areas north of Qalqilya.

In a statement released on Sunday, Abu Obeida congratulated the mujahideen who executed the attack, describing it as clear evidence of the Palestinian people’s unwavering determination to resist the Israeli occupation.

“We bless the heroic operation in the Kochav Yair settlement, carried out by one of our people’s mujahideen from within the occupied territories,” Abu Obeida said. He emphasized that the operation was a legitimate act of self-defense and a direct response to ongoing Israeli aggression, settlement expansion, and crimes against Palestinians.

The resistance operation, which took place on Saturday, targeted several illegal settler communities including Kochav Yair, Tzur Yitzhak, Tzur Natan, and Sal’it — all built on Palestinian land inside the 1948 occupied territories. According to Israeli reports, the attacks resulted in one settler killed and at least six others wounded, some seriously.

Abu Obeida used the occasion to salute the broader popular confrontation across the occupied West Bank and called on Palestinians everywhere to intensify the struggle.

“We look with pride at the confrontation of our people’s sons with the hordes of occupiers in various areas of the occupied West Bank,” he stated. “We call on our youth in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the interior to take their role in the Al-Aqsa Flood battle and to escalate their operations to make the Zionists pay the price for their crimes.”

The statement reflects the growing unity among Palestinian resistance factions. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other groups have all welcomed the operation as a natural response to continued Israeli settlement expansion, military raids, settler violence, and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Following the resistance action, Israeli occupation forces launched a massive manhunt involving army units, police, helicopters, and special forces. Israeli police claimed that one alleged attacker was killed and another was arrested, with later reports suggesting both resistance fighters were martyred. One of the fighters was identified by Israeli media as a Palestinian from the city of Taybeh, inside the territories occupied since 1948.

The operation comes amid escalating Israeli aggression across the occupied Palestinian territories, including repeated military incursions, home demolitions, settler attacks on villages, and relentless bombardment of Gaza that has caused immense suffering and displacement.

Palestinian resistance factions view such operations as a legitimate and necessary response to decades of dispossession, land theft, and systematic violence by the Israeli occupation. Abu Obeida’s message underscores the Palestinian people’s resolve to continue resisting until the end of the occupation and the restoration of their legitimate rights. (ILKHA)