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On May 27, 2022, Al-Jazeera Network (Qatar) aired a documentary about Hamas’s military buildup in Gaza prior to the May 2021 "Sword of Jerusalem war" with Israel. Muhammad Al-Sinwar, a member of Hamas’s General Staff whose face was not shown in the interview, recalled how on May 10, 2021 Hamas's Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades launched rockets at Jerusalem during the Jerusalem Day Flag March. He said that the May 2021 conflict will serve as a "practical precedent" for the battle in which all the forces and nations will unity to purify Jerusalem and liberate Palestine. In addition, a commander in Hamas's artillery units identified as Saad said that Hamas military wing commander Muhammad Deif had been in direct contact with the artillery commanders and had given the order to prepare a salvo against Jerusalem. The documentary also included footage of Hamas rockets being loaded into launchers and of military drones in action. It is noteworthy that the documentary aired on a Friday two days prior to Jerusalem Day 2022, during which the annual Flag March is slated to take place.
Narrator: "This exclusive footage documents the preparations for the first strike by the Al-Qassam Brigades, which was directed at Jerusalem on May 10, 2021."
Muhammad Al-Sinwar: "On the ground, we raised the level of readiness for all our weapons and experts. Instructions were given to our artillery corps to remain at the highest degree of combat readiness. The preparations were managed with extreme accuracy. The mujahideen were on full alert. We monitored the conduct of the enemy in Jerusalem and on the ground, moment by moment."
Saad: "On Monday, May 10 [2021], we were at full alert since dawn, at the artillery corps. All the artillery soldiers were waiting for the orders of their commanders. The Chief of Staff, brother [Mohammed] 'Abu Khaled' Deif was in direct contact with us, the artillery commanders. 'Abu Khaled' ordered us to prepare a rocket salvo directed against the settlements of occupied Jerusalem.
"And so, we ordered the brothers on the ground to prepare three launchers in different areas, and point them at the same target. We did this for the sake of redundancy and readiness."
Al-Sinwar: "The power we have accumulated and the lessons we have learned advance us one step every day towards the promised day of liberation and return. Our mission at the command of the resistance, through our ties with our nation and its living forces, is to preserve the Sword of Jerusalem war [of May 2021] as the inspiring model and a practical precedent for the battle in which all the forces and nations will unite to purify Jerusalem and liberate Palestine. We say to all the free people of our nation and the world: Al-Aqsa awaits you, so wait for the order."
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