Article content

A Canadian who joined the military wing of Hamas died in an Egyptian hospital six months ago after an Israeli warplane struck his gun position in southern Gaza, according to a statement by the Palestinian terrorist group.

A flowery martyrdom notice on the website of the Al Qassam Brigades described Hossam Al Hams as a 36-year-old naturalized Canadian citizen who moved to the Gaza Strip in 2002 and became a Hamas fighter in 2005.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Hamas praises Canadian who died in Gaza conflict after 'joining the ranks' of the Palestinian terrorist group Back to video

“His Canadian citizenship enabled him to visit occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank,” said the Arabic-language elegy translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist activity on the Internet.

His Canadian citizenship enabled him to visit occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank

He was manning a Hamas air defence site near the southern city of Rafah when the Israeli air force struck on Nov. 17, it said. He was taken to hospital in Egypt with burns, fractures and shrapnel wounds and died on Nov. 29.

The Hamas statement comes amid growing concerns over the participation of Canadian extremists in overseas terrorist groups. Recent deadly attacks in Algeria, Bulgaria and Somalia have been attributed to Canadians, prompting the government to consider stripping citizenship from those who use it for terrorist purposes.