IDF kills Hamas spokesperson, marking 2nd assassination in one week

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday that an overnight airstrike killed the spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, Qassam Brigades. Abu Obeida had served as spokesperson for the past decade, and was known in Israeli circles as the “face of the terrorist organization.” 

Better intelligence, more assassinations

Obeida’s death was confirmed Sunday by a Palestinian source who spoke to the Arab media outlet, Al Arabiya. According to the source, Obeida was killed when an Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building where he was staying. His body was later identified by family members and senior Qassam Brigades leaders. The strike reportedly killed everyone in the apartment building, including civilian families and children.

In a statement, the IDF said that Obeida’s assassination “was made possible thanks to prior intelligence gathered by the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence, which pointed to the hideout where the terrorist was located.”

According to multiple reports, Obeida’s death marks one of the highest-profile assassinations of a Hamas leader in nearly two years of war. He served as one of the most visible profiles of the resistance, delivering remarks during various times of conflict. 

In a statement announcing his assassination, the IDF said that Obeida “was responsible for the propaganda apparatus of Hamas’s military wing,” adding, “In this role, he oversaw spokesperson operations across brigades and battalions, coordinated between political media elements and the military wing, and was the senior figure setting propaganda policy.”

Just a few days before Obeida’s death, Israel killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi, as he attended a routine workshop for government officials. Echoing the IDF’s statement, Bernard Haykel, a professor of Near East Studies at Princeton University, told Straight Arrow News that such assassinations are down to increasingly sophisticated Israeli intelligence.

“The key point is that the Israelis are finally getting very good intelligence on the Houthis, and this is either through good signal intelligence and/or human informants,” Haykel told SAN on Saturday. 

Israel’s war continues to grow

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Gaza Health Ministry said 88 people were killed in the territory in a 24-hour period, inching the Palestinian death toll since Israel launched its war in Gaza to nearly 63,500. 

The Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the Gaza Health Ministry, which is operated by Hamas’ government wing, doesn’t distinguish between combatant and civilian deaths. However, a recent investigation carried out by three media organizations found that according to the Israeli military’s own data, the civilian death rate due to the war in Gaza stands at more than 83%. 

At the same time, the IDF on Friday declared Gaza City a combat zone, after largely staying out of the area for the past 23 months. At least 23,000 people were evacuated as a result of the growing operation. 

Israel has systematically occupied larger swaths of Gaza since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking another 250 hostage.

In the nearly two years since, more than 90% of Gaza’s Palestinian population has been displaced at least once, while some in the international community have accused Israel of committing a genocide and deliberately facilitating mass starvation. 

Netanyahu has denied both accusations, though he has routinely barred international journalists from entering the enclave. Nearly 250 journalists have been killed in Gaza since 2023, including at least six in August, making it the deadliest war for the press on record. The Israeli government also hasn’t provided its own death toll.