Israel Begins The Process Of Dismantling The Tomb Of Palestinian Nationalist Leader Izzudin Al-Qassam

JAKARTA - Israel began the process of dismantling the tomb of the late Palestinian national leader Izzudin Al-Qassam, as the country's right-wing minister was determined to move the tomb of a figure whose name was named the military wing of the Hamas militant group.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Thursday promised to move the tomb of Al-Qassam located in Israel. The video upload on his X account shows him accompanying a number of Israeli troops as they dismantle the prayer tent next to the Syrian-born militant grave.

"The grave of the big terrorist Izzuddin Al-Qassam in Nester must be removed. And yesterday at dawn, we took the first step," wrote Ben Gvir on X, as reported by Al Arabiya from AFP (12/12).

Meanwhile, Israel's far-right daily, Israel Hayom, reported that Israeli troops also lowered surveillance cameras around the burial site and removed an officer guarding the premises.

When asked by AFP about the incident, Israeli police insisted that they were not involved referring questions to the authorities responsible for the funeral.

Last August, Ben-Gvir had called for the demolition of the tomb of Al-Qassam at a meeting of the Domestic and Environmental Committee of Knesset (Israeli Parliament), quoted from The New Arab.

את קברו של הארכי טרוריסט עז א-דין אל-קסאם בנשר צריך להעיף. ואתמול לפנות בוקר עשינו את הצעד הראשון. ברה... pic.twitter.com/mgjSTG7Be4

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) December 11, 2025

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"We have to send a very clear message: a big-name terrorist, even in death, won't be a symbol here," Ben-Gvir said at the time, saying Israeli police would regulate the destruction.

Meanwhile, Yitzhak Kroizer, a Knesset member of Ben-Gvir's far-right party, Jewish Power, said Qassam's tomb should be used as a "warhead" in negotiations with Hamas to restore Israeli prisoners detained in Gaza, and threatened to bury Qassam again in a "terrorist cemetery".

It is known that Izzuddin Al-Qassam, who was born in Jableh, Syria in 1881, was a Muslim preacher who throughout his life opposed Western colonial interference in Arab countries, supported resistance to the Italian invasion of Libya and then participated in the battle against French colonial forces in Syria.

In the early 1920s, he moved with his family to Palestine, where the British government had pledged to support the "national home" for Jews, against the will of the Palestinian people.

Starting in the 1930s, Al-Qassam began organizing resistance groups against British colonial authorities and Jewish settlers in Palestine.

He was later killed after being surrounded by British troops, who blamed his group for the death of a Jewish policeman who worked for the British government.

Al-Qassam is highly respected by Palestinians for his resistance to the British occupation of Palestine, with Hamas naming his military wing by its name.

His tomb is located near Haifa in northern Israel and has been damaged several times over the years.