The following article, by Resistance News Network, is republished here from RNN (Read the original) and tells the story of resistance leaders and fighters, brothers Adel and Imad Awadallah, whose bodies were held captive by the occupation for 16 years after their martyrdom. The ongoing practice of kidnapping and holding the bodies of the martyrs is used as a form of collective punishment and attack against the Palestinian people as a whole. Click here to endorse and support the campaign for the liberation of the bodies of the martyrs. Read the call to action in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, German, Swedish.
Today’s story of resistance concerns two brothers, a changing landscape, and lessons from the past.
The brothers, commanders Adel and Imad Awadallah, were each other’s right arm. They led the Al-Qassam Brigades, inflicting fear upon the enemy for years, especially in 1996 when 49 zionists were killed in one week in the “Sacred Revenge” series of operations avenging Yahya Ayyash.
On this day in 1998, they were martyred on a farm, besieged by special forces in Al-Khalil. After hours of armed clashes, they ascended gloriously.
No one knew their fate for 16 years.
This is their story.
From Al-Bireh, Adel and Imad joined the Al-Qassam Brigades in their youth, quickly advancing in the ranks and becoming leaders in Ramallah. When the mastermind engineer Yahya Ayyash was martyred at the hands of zionists in January 1996, they sought to avenge his death in a series of painful anti-colonial operations.
Adel and Imad were the #1 most wanted in the West Bank, not only by the occupation but also by its lapdog, the Palestinian Authority. For three years, Adel and Imad hid from them both. All who visited their home were arrested, and the PA launched a massive arrest campaign of Hamas cadre.
In August 1998, Imad was kidnapped by the PA and tortured in Areeha prison. In a heroic escape, he liberated himself from prison despite solitary confinement, but was tracked by the PA, who planted an electronic device on him.
Adel, on the other hand, was still a fugitive. Clinging to his aspirations of his people’s imminent liberation, he continued to orchestrate resistance operations. During one of them, forces of the Palestinian Authority opened fire on a Renault 9 car, believing him to be inside with his family, unconcerned with the casualties. The PA Forces ended up killing an unrelated Palestinian woman instead, in a move reminiscent of the PA’s thuggish behavior today, like their assassination of martyrs Nizar Banat, Mohammed Al-Banna, and Abdel Qader Zaqdah.
Three years, and all the forces of the PA and occupation could not catch them. In a video, Adel stated that he does not want revenge against those who kill him, but only revenge against the zionist entity. This sentiment is repeated by the resistance today, who understands that bloodshed with brothers serves the enemy, even in light of the atrocities committed by the PA. “Our guns do not see except the minarets of Al-Quds;” Dr. Ramadan Shallah‘s eminent quote is repeated in various forms by the factions today.
On this day in 1998, the IOF claimed to have assassinated both Adel and Imad, right after the PA tracked Imad after his prison escape. Their fate was unknown, whether they were arrested or martyred. Despite torture being used on them both, they refused to confess and refused to provide information about their fellow resistance fighters.
In 2014, the IOF released their bodies, received by a crowd of thousands who never forgot the legacy of the heroic brothers. Adel was wearing the same shirt, 16 years after his martyrdom.
When they were martyred, the Oslo Accords were just five years old. Today, one year beyond the 30th anniversary of the ill-fated Accords, the PA’s position on liberation has not changed; rather, it has more deeply entrenched itself in normalization and betrayal.
In the year of Adel and Imad’s martyrdom, the so-called separation wall did not exist. The geography of the land was markedly different; Palestinians were connected to their land, and colonial checkpoints were a ghost of what they are now. Watchtowers were smaller. Pegasus and Blue Wolf were non-existent. The surveillance state was not as present.
In 2023, mobility is not so easy. Thus, the strategies of the resistance had to change to reflect this. A new strategy has been adopted, in Jenin, in Nablus, in Tulkarem, Al-Khalil, and Areeha, quickly spreading to all parts of Palestine: there is no free entry, and if you enter, we will burn you. While some resistance fighters venture into the interior to send their message, this cohesive strategy has proven to be effective in the last two years.
Today, we not only approach the 31st anniversary of Oslo, but also the anniversary of the kidnapping by the PA of Musab Shtayyeh, who, like Adel and Imad, was also the most wanted man in the West Bank. Shtayyeh, the link between the West Bank and Gaza, is a member of the Lions’ Den and Al-Qassam Brigades. He has been subjected to torture, under the guise of kidnapping him “for protection,” a bold-faced and recurring PA lie.
Despite the setback of his continued abduction orchestrated by the US and zionists, resistance persists. Today’s youth face both the PA and the occupation, avenging martyr after martyr in their operations. They understand that we face two enemies: the zionist entity and the Authority that “participates in our annihilation,” in the words of Basil.
This story provides one lesson: The PA is a collaborating arm of the occupation, and it too must be refused. Basil taught us, “Every Palestinian must understand that any confrontation with the Authority is not a confrontation with a Palestinian, but a confrontation with a tool of the occupation,” a quote that rings clear considering the context of Musab’s arrest: PA repression led to clashes, and he raised his gun to defend himself without knowing if the aggressor was the IOF or PA. This simple ambiguity paradoxically creates clarity to understand the reality of the Palestinian situation.
Down with Oslo and the PA! Down with the zionist entity!
Resistance persists, united and advancing, until the dismantling of all oppressors.
