“We have struck the Hamas spokesman, the spokesman for this criminal and murderous organisation, Abu Obeida,” Netanyahu said, according to a readout of a government meeting.
“I hope he is no longer with us, but I notice that there is no one on the Hamas side to clarify this matter,” the Israeli prime minister added.
The spokesman has for years regularly appeared in the Palestinian militants’ video messages wearing military fatigues and a red keffiyeh scarf to obscure his face.
During nearly 23 months of devastating war in Gaza, the group’s senior leadership has been decimated by Israel, which has vowed to eradicate the fighters following their October 7, 2023 attack.
Israel’s killing of Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh, the head of its armed wing Mohammed Deif, and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar — accused by Israel of masterminding the October 7 attack — along with a string of other commanders and political figures, has considerably weakened the movement.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people.
Of the 251 hostages seized during the attack, 47 are still being held in Gaza, around 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 63,450 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Gaza.
