, Prime Minister of Israel, reported this Sunday that the country launched an attack targeting Abu Obeida, spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
"We attacked the spokesman for Hamas, the spokesman for this criminal and murderous organization, Abu Obeida," Netanyahu said, according to a government meeting summary."I hope he is no longer with us, but I see that there is no one on the Hamas side who can clarify this matter," the Israeli president added.
The spokesman, known for appearing for years in videos of Palestinian terrorists in military uniform with a red keffiyeh covering his face, has established himself as one of the group's public faces.
In nearly 23 months of war in Gaza , Israel has reduced the leadership of Hamas, after pledging to eradicate the armed group following the attack on October 7, 2023. The offensive has included the elimination of key leaders such as political chief Ismail Haniyeh, military leader Mohammed Deif and leader Yahya Sinwar, who Israel has identified as masterminds behind the October attack, as well as other senior commanders and political figures.
This weekend, the Hamas terrorist group confirmed the death of its military chief in Gaza, Mohammed Sinwar, months after Israel announced it had killed him in an attack in May. The organization did not detail the circumstances of the death, but published images of Sinwar alongside other leaders of the group, describing them as “martyrs.”
Mohammed Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas leader who participated in planning the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024. Following Yahya's death, Mohammed assumed de facto leadership of the organization's military wing.
Israel said Sinwar was targeted in a May 13 attack on the European Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, aimed at eliminating him. The Israeli military explained that the attack targeted Hamas's underground infrastructure, while the group denied that such infrastructure existed beneath the hospital. The operation also killed Muhammad Shabana, commander of Hamas's Rafah Brigade, the Israeli military said.
Mohammed Sinwar was born on September 16, 1975, in the Khan Younis refugee camp, where he grew up with his brother Yahya. His parents fled Majdal, a Palestinian town now part of Ashkelon, Israel, during the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, in what is known in Arabic as the Nakba.
The attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel left 1,219 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Of the 251 hostages taken at the time, 47 are still being held in Gaza, of whom around 20 are believed to be still alive.
In response, the Israeli offensive has left at least 63,459 dead in Palestine, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, whose numbers are considered reliable by the United Nations.
