- Netanyahu said Abu Ubaida was targeted in a joint army-Shin Bet Gaza strike; military confirmed it happened Saturday
TEL AVIV: Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday that Hamas’ armed wing spokesperson Abu Ubaida had been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier in the day that Abu Ubaida had been targeted in a joint operation carried out by the military and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service in Gaza. The Israeli military said in a later statement that the strike was on Saturday.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
Only a day earlier, the Hamas confirmed the death of its former Gaza military chief, Muhammad Sinwar, late Saturday, several months after Israel said it killed him in a strike in May.
Hamas did not provide details on Sinwar’s death or a statement but published pictures and video of him along with other group leaders killed by Israel, describing them as “martyrs.”
Muhammad Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former leader of the terror group, who co-masterminded the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and whom Israel had killed in combat a year later.
Muhammad became the de facto leader of the terror group in Gaza following Israel’s killing of Yahya last October. Israel targeted him in a strike in May of this year, and assessed some weeks later that he had been killed.
The photo Hamas published was part of previously unseen footage of its former leaders, the architects of the October 7 massacre in southern Israel, all of whom have been killed in Israeli operations over the past 22 months.
The video, which is over three minutes in length, opens with a clip of the former head of Hamas’s military wing, Muhammad Deif, talking about Hamas’s fight against the “tyrants” of Israel, with mournful music playing in the background.
The music, a song titled “Master of Martyrs,” continues throughout, as clips of rocket fire on Israel, the October 7 invasion, military parades and various other snippets of Hamas propaganda footage play out on screen.
Among the clips is a brief snippet of what appears to be a meeting between several former Hamas leaders, including Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh, Yayha Sinwar, and the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing, Marwan Issa.
Sinwar, Issa and Deif were all killed in IDF operations in 2024. Haniyeh was killed in Iran.
Muhammad was killed in an airstrike in May alongside Muhammad Shabana, commander of the terror group’s Rafah Brigade, and Mahdi Quara, commander of the South Khan Younis Battalion, with whom he was meeting.
L: Hamas Rafah Brigade commander Muhammad Shabana, killed in an IDF strike on May 13, 2025; R: Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar, killed in an IDF strike on May 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Israel Air Force was initially hesitant to launch the strike for fear of killing hostages that may have been close to the former Hamas leader, but went ahead with the operation when it received intelligence that no captives were nearby.
