Hamas Releases Graphic Footage Of Sniper Attack On Israeli Troops In Gaza

Click to see full-size image. (Screengrab\Al-Qassam Brigades)

The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas Movement, released on April 26 video footage of a deadly sniper attack that targeted Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip two days earlier.

The footage shows a sniper hitting two soldiers back to back using a locally-made al-Ghoul single-shot anti-materiel sniper rifle.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged that a soldier from the 14th Reserve Armored Brigade’s 79th Battalion was killed in the sniper attack. According to an initial probe by the military, the sniper who carried out the attack managed to flee.

This was the second time an Israeli soldier was killed in Gaza since the IDF renewed its offensive in the Strip on March 18, shattering a ceasefire-hostage agreement that was brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar last January.

The rifle used in the attack is a copy of the Austrian Steyr HS .50. It is named after Adnan al-Ghoul, a senior commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, who was assassinated by the IDF in Gaza in 2004.

Hamas was likely able to manufacture the rifle in Gaza with technical help from Iran who produces a copy of the HS .50 dubbed the AM-50 Sayyad.

Al-Ghoul sniper rifle is not however chambered in NATO’s .50 BMG caliber like the HS .50 or the AM-50 Sayyad. It apparently fires Soviet 12.7×108mm anti-materiel rifle cartridges similar to the Golan S-01, a modified version of the HS .50 made in Syria.

Since renewing its offensive in Gaza, the IDF has occupied around 30% of the Strip’s territories. While the military didn’t face any resistance in the first few weeks, the situation changed in recent days with casualties being reported on a near-daily basis.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on April 25 that the IDF was making strides but paying a heavy price in Gaza.

“The achievements are great, but still, the dangers are great and the prices are heavy,” the minister wrote on the X social network.

Khan Younis, April 9, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)
Amid intense fighting in Gaza, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday that the Israel Defense Forces was making strides but paying a heavy price in the enclave, where a reservist was killed on Thursday and another was seriously wounded by RPG fire on Friday afternoon.

“The achievements are great, but still, the dangers are great and the prices are heavy,” wrote Katz on X.

“Thousands of IDF soldiers in the standing army and reserves are now heroically fighting in Gaza for the release of hostages and to destroy Hamas terrorists,” said the minister, adding that the military was operating “intensely” to ensure troops were protected.

All in all, the situation remains in favor of Israel, not because of the advance made by the IDF, but because of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza which was amplified by the ongoing offensive. Since March 18, more than 2,000 Palesitnains have been killed.

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