In late October 2023, the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit revealed Abu Obeida’s identity, naming him as Hudhayfah Kahlot.
By JNS
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces targeted Hamas’s chief propagandist, Abu Obeida, in an airstrike in Gaza City over the weekend.
“We struck the Hamas spokesman, the spokesman of the murderous, evil organization, Abu Obeida,” Netanyahu said ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting.
“I hope he is no longer with us, but I notice that there is no one left to answer that question on Hamas’s side.”
The IDF said on Saturday night that it had struck a “key Hamas terrorist” in the Gaza City area, amid reports that Abu Obeida had been killed.
According to Hamas, the strike targeted a building in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, and caused “dozens of deaths and injuries.”
A Palestinian source told Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya channel on Sunday morning that the Hamas propaganda chief, who has never shown his face to the public, had been killed.
In late October 2023, the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit revealed Abu Obeida’s identity, naming him as Hudhayfah Kahlot.
“Hudhayfah Kahlot, you have been exposed,” Col. Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab media division, tweeted, sharing a video revealing Kahlot’s face.
“He and other Hamas-ISIS leaders like to hide inside tunnels and behind women and children, as well as behind masks and shadows.”
“It is time to stop covering up. The mask and keffiyeh will not help you,” said Adraee.
On Friday, Abu Obeida, 40, threatened the hostages’ lives in response to the IDF’s plan to capture Gaza City, saying that the terrorist organization would keep captives “as much as possible” alongside its operatives.
He warned that “the enemy army will pay in the blood of its soldiers” and threatened more kidnappings. According to him, Hamas is “on alert, with high morale, and will teach the invaders harsh lessons.”
The IDF continues to strike Hamas and is enhancing its focus on the area of Gaza City, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on Friday.
Zamir spoke hours after the military announced that daily humanitarian tactical pauses would no longer apply to Gaza City, which was described as “a dangerous combat zone.”
Netanyahu on Aug. 14 outlined his government’s parameters for ending the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The conditions for victory were listed as the disarmament of Hamas; the return of all 48 remaining hostages; the demilitarization of Gaza; Israeli security control; and establishing an alternative civilian administration.
