Palestinian Fighters Spent 4 Years Preparing for ‘Al-Aqsa Storm’ Operation

Over a week has passed since the commencement of the Al-Aqsa Storm operation, and the fierce battle between resistance fighters and the Israeli regime's army rages on. Up to this point, resistance fighters have inflicted 1500 casualties upon the Israeli regime through their ground and rocket operations, with over 2670 lives lost in Gaza due to Israeli bombardment.

"Al-Aqsa Storm" signifies a new era of irregular warfare, marking Hamas's shift towards hybrid warfare with Israel. Experts and analysts have been taken aback by the preparedness of Hamas fighters and their effective intelligence measures for executing this operation. Israeli authorities have erroneously tried to attribute this readiness to Iran, claiming that the resistance fighters lacked the capability to plan, train, and prepare for such operations.

However, an examination of Palestinian resistance group activities over the past four years reveals their meticulous preparations for such operations, culminating in the final phase just a month before the operation's commencement.

Since 2020, Palestinian resistance groups have been coordinating the "Rukn Al-Shadid" joint exercises, conducting them annually with specific objectives and publicizing their efforts. Nevertheless, the Israeli security apparatus's apparent confusion and surprise indicated that they have not been taking these exercises seriously.

The inaugural joint exercise of Palestinian resistance groups, titled Rukn Al-Shadid 1, was held on December 29, 2020. "Considering that the aspirations of Palestine and our beloved homeland extend from north to south, and our people's suffering from injustice, siege, settlement construction, and aggression, and at a time when our sanctities are exposed to Judaization, desecration, and Zionist insolence, we in the Palestinian resistance factions are by the grace of God, devoted to our martyrs and captives, and we have not broken our vow to the people to pursue the path of resistance, jihad, and struggle," the Joint Operations Room of Palestinian groups emphasized during the commencement of Rukn Al-Shadid 1.

This is the very point that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei emphasized in his recent statements during the graduation ceremony of military university students. "When oppression and injustice exceed their limits, a storm will arise," he said.

In another part of this statement, the formation of a unified command and control center among resistance groups has been announced, stating, "It's not surprising that fighters and activists from all factions make every effort to coordinate their actions in trainings, equipping, preparing, and joint field combat against the enemy."

Another noteworthy point in this statement is the emphasis on the joint operations room of resistance groups, which executed these exercises with integrated command and control from north to south of the Gaza Strip and using military ammunition. The purpose of conducting these exercises was to enhance the preparedness of resistance forces by simulating real combat conditions and addressing potential enemy attack scenarios.

Examining the photographs of the "Rukn Al-Shadid" drills reveals that the resistance forces have been continuously and comprehensively practicing all of the scenarios they conducted during the "Al-Aqsa Storm" operation for four years.

The resistance forces have undertaken a range of significant military exercises during the "Rukn Al-Shadid" drills, which involved urban warfare, infiltrating Zionist settlements, securing buildings, swiftly mobilizing troops, and capturing the military installations of the opposing regime. In addition, the resistance fighters have focused on ground combat and thwarting the regime's army incursions into the Gaza Strip. Notably, they have dedicated substantial effort to honing their skills in combat scenarios involving armored vehicles, particularly the Merkava tank, using guided anti-armor missiles, mines, explosive devices, Yassin anti-armor rockets, close-quarters combat, and the capture of Israeli tank crews and infantry.

However, during the first "Rukn Al-Shadid" drills, resistance fighters also engaged in joint training exercises that included coastal infiltration and amphibious operations using various kinds of sea mines.

These actions almost exactly mirrored those taken by Hamas fighters in the early stages of their attack, which resulted in unprecedented casualties and shocked the army and security apparatus of the occupying regime of Israel.

In a continuation of their military preparedness, Palestinian resistance forces have conducted a series of intensive joint exercises. With a one-year gap, the second exercise took place on December 26, 2021 and focused on crossing the barrier and border between the Gaza Strip and the occupied territories, which is heavily fortified with concrete walls embedded into the ground.

The third exercise began near the Gaza Strip's border on December 28, 2022. The emphasis of this drill was on rapid response, border crossing, and infiltration into Israeli military bases. It also simulated scenarios in which Israeli soldiers were captured, replicating previous operations.

The fourth and final exercise, Intense Pillar 19, occurred roughly a month before Al-Aqsa Storm operation on September 10, 2023. This exercise focused on coordination and readiness within the Palestinian resistance groups.

Throughout these exercises, resistance fighters honed their ground combat, special operations, rocket units, drones, air defense, and rescue missions, launching more than 5,000 rockets on the first day of the final exercise.

These drills revealed the efficacy of an irregular warfare network as well as the fighters' capacity to carry out precision actions. On the contrary, the Israeli military has failed to comprehend the Palestinian resistance forces' strategies and tactics in their protracted war with resistance groups.