GAZA, (PIC)
In a poignant and majestic scene during the handover of the bodies of prisoners in Khan Yunis last Thursday, a woman from the Gaza Strip delivered a speech broadcasted by various media outlets. She affirmed that the occupation had utterly failed to forcibly extract its prisoners and could not take “a single hair” from them. Instead of liberating them, it killed them. She emphasized that they (the Palestinians) are “stronger and smarter than the occupation that has wreaked havoc on this land.”
These words may seem ordinary amidst the resilience of the Palestinian people since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Flood epic, but their impact takes on a unique significance when it is known that the speaker is “Um Abdullah Al-Dardisi,” the wife of the Palestinian Sheikh “Zaki Al-Dardisi,” who has given Palestine and Jerusalem seven sons as martyrs in several wars.
Struggle and sacrifice
In Khan Yunis, no one is unaware of who Sheikh Zaki Al-Dardisi (Abu Abdullah) is; he is a prominent figure in the city, known as a mukhtar (clan leader) and a reformer, recognized for his good morals and beloved by his community. He has participated in many social and reform efforts and played an active role in resolving disputes and promoting unity among community members.
Sheikh Al-Dardisi has several children, but he never sought to save them for his own worldly benefit. Instead, he offered seven of them as martyrs in heroic battles, recording their names in the epics of struggle and sacrifice in defense of the land and its sanctities. The scene becomes more majestic when one knows that Sheikh Al-Dardisi’s journey of giving and jihad is deep-rooted; his first son, Abdullah, was martyred, followed by Abdul Rahman during his stand against an Israeli incursion in the Abasan al-Kabira area in 2004. Sheikh Zaki himself was at the forefront of the fighters, continuing to fight until the withdrawal of Israeli forces, affirming his commitment to resistance and defense of his land. In 2006, his home was targeted, reflecting the challenges he faced due to his positions and activities.
Seven martyrs
In the Al-Aqsa Flood battle, Sheikh Al-Dardisi paid the heaviest price, losing four of his sons in heroic battles against the occupying forces. He also lost his property, land, and most of his livelihood. After the funeral of his seventh son, he stood among the crowds in serenity and satisfaction, repeating the words he had spoken at the head of his first martyr: “I and my children and grandchildren are sacrifices for the resistance.”
The seven martyrs of Sheikh Al-Dardisi recorded their heroism in successive battles, but one of his sons, the heroic martyr Salem Al-Dardisi, will be remembered by the occupation until it is expelled from all of Palestine. He was the hero of the “Al-Zanah” operation, which led the occupation army to decide to withdraw from Khan Yunis.
On April 6, 2024, coinciding with the night of the 27th of Ramadan, the fighters of the Qassam Brigades executed a meticulous ambush in the Al-Zanah area east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, dubbed the “Ambush of the Righteous.” The fighters announced that this operation was a complex ambush targeting a Zionist force composed of 30 soldiers from the Givati Brigade; they initially used two explosive devices named “Ra’diyah” and “Television” and planted them along the expected route of the Zionist force before detonating them.
Ambush of the righteous
The operation continued for several hours, with the fighters engaging the Zionist forces that came to evacuate the location and retrieve the dead. Whenever one force was targeted, another would arrive to find the fighters waiting, resulting in casualties. The Qassam Brigades stated that the operation was prepared 50 days in advance based on accurate intelligence to monitor the locations of the occupation forces and their movement plans. The operation resulted in the deaths of at least nine individuals among officers and soldiers, while others were injured. However, the occupation only acknowledged the deaths of four to conceal its failures in battles against the resistance heroes, who withdrew from the heroic battle safely, led by the “Butcher of Mechanized Units.” Who is this hero?
Salem “The butcher of mechanized units”
He was dubbed “The butcher of mechanized units” for his extraordinary ability to destroy occupation equipment and inflict severe losses on the enemy’s tanks, bulldozers, and troop carriers. He is the heroic fighter, the engineer of the Ambush of the Righteous in the Al-Zanah area, Salem Al-Dardisi, who made the occupation suffer greatly in Khan Yunis before becoming one of the key reasons for the withdrawal of an army that gained nothing from its aggression on the city except disappointment and defeat.
Salem Al-Dardisi’s heroism did not end with his martyrdom; he had a lasting impact that humiliated the arrogance of the occupation and forced its leaders to confront their failures. During the handover of the bodies of prisoners, the commander of the eastern region of Khan Yunis, whom the occupation claimed to have killed before its soldiers withdrew from the city, appeared during the handover, contradicting the occupation’s narrative and exposing its claims. This was one of the fruits sown by martyr Salem Al-Dardisi through his heroism in facing the occupation, culminating in the Ambush of the Righteous.
The wonders of the Al-Dardisi family in their sacrifices and heroism were expressed by the patient and steadfast mother during her speech at the handover ceremony, following several days after her husband Sheikh Zaki Al-Dardisi hosted a large meal, inviting the released prisoners and those exiled from the West Bank and Jordan to the Gaza Strip. He delivered an eloquent speech, saying: “We are your family if family is dear, your support if support is dear, and your back if backing is dear.”
