Yesterday, a man ascended whom no one knew, not even his real name—nor his influence—until the moment of his martyrdom.
Abu Mahmoud, Abu Imad, or simply, “Abu Omar Al-Souri” (the Syrian) departed from this material world. His name, the great martyr commander Hakam Al-Issa, is now etched in glory.
A Palestinian exiled in diaspora, he came to Gaza from Syria in 2005, carrying his family and children, with his heart set on the soil of Palestine. He had no concern but to pour his life’s experience into the head of the resistance, and he became its foundational pillar.
From Khuzestan to Rafah, from Syria, Afghanistsan, and Lebanon to Jabalia, his prescence was a quiet force of creation, innovation, and resistance. He was the founder of military training of the Al-Qassam Brigades, bringing thousands of new fighters into its ranks, as well as a commander of its Military Council. There was no field that his hands did not touch.
He established the entire training and development system and the Al-Qassam Brigades Academy, where thousands of fighters carry his legacy in their hearts and bullets. He supervised the elite combat units and forces and helped build military instutes and colleges. He laid the cornerstones for Gaza’s defense plan and engineered major operations. His expertise and devotion to the resistance was a blessing for the Palestinian resistance.
He was not known to this world, but Gaza knew him intimately. Its streets, its alleys, its lecture halls, and its training grounds hold his footsteps. In every speck of glorious Gaza’s sacred soil, he left his trace, and and example to follow for the thousands that love him.
When you see the discipline of Gaza’s fighters, the creativity of their intense operations, the engineering of Al-Aqsa Flood, the brilliance of tactics, the superiority of weapons: here are the fingerprints of Abu Omar.
When he first moved to Gaza, he lived by a vow: “There is no exit from Gaza after I have entered it with my wife and children, except to the West Bank as liberators, or soaring as a martyr to Paradise.”
After 21 months of relentless war, Abu Omar ascended with his wife and grandson in a treacherous zionist strike. A man with the spirit of a soldier, a husband, a father, a leader has departed us, fulfilling his promise, soaring to Paradise from the soil of Gaza. Farewell to a founder, a silent giant, and the martyr of Palestine.
Glory to the martyrs.
source: Resistance News Network