Israel claimed it killed an iconic Hamas spokesman in a Gaza City airstrike, and said more such blows would follow if a sweep of the Palestinian Islamist faction’s last stronghold goes ahead as planned.
Hamas hasn’t commented on the condition or whereabouts of Abu Obeida since Saturday’s attack, which it said inflicted dozens of casualties in the al-Rimal neighborhood as part of an attempt to prompt an exodus of civilians.
Abu Obeida — whose real name is Hudahaifa Kahlout, according to the Israel Defense Forces — had become the masked face of Hamas’ armed wing, making televised appearances with only his eyes visible behind a keffiyeh, the traditional headdress worn by Arab men. During the almost two-year-old war with Israel, many Palestinians looked to him for updates on the fighting and on hostages held by Hamas.
“The Hamas terror spokesman has been eliminated,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday in a post on X, adding that Abu Ubeida would soon “meet many more of his criminal associates.”
Without Abu Obeida, Hamas has three senior figures left in the Gaza Strip.
One is Izz al-Din al-Haddad, a Northern Brigade commander promoted in May to run the group. Another is veteran chief of operations Raed Saad, and the third is Hussein Fayyad, head of Hamas in the now-destroyed town of Beit Hanoun. All three are believed to be holed up in Gaza City along with thousands of fighters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due on Sunday to convene his security cabinet for new talks following the decision on Aug. 8 to send troops and tanks into Gaza City, which is among about 25% of the Palestinian enclave not yet overrun by Israel’s army. It’s also home to as many as one million civilians.
The aim, Netanyahu has said, is to crush Hamas and recover the remaining 48 hostages held in Gaza, most of them taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 kidnapped. Twenty hostages are believed to be alive, and many Israelis fear that they could be executed or become cross-fire casualties in the event of more escalation.
Several world powers have condemned Netanyahu’s Gaza City plan, saying it will aggravate a spiraling humanitarian crisis for Palestinians and result in reoccupation by Israel. The US, however, is backing its ally and plans to expand an aid network, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to help cope with displaced Palestinians.
After months of stalled negotiations, Hamas on Aug. 18 accepted a truce proposal by Arab mediators. Two previous ceasefires allowed Israel to recover some hostages in return for freeing Palestinian prisoners, during which time Gaza stocked up on supplies.
But Israel has now taken an all-or-nothing tack, saying the only way to avert the Gaza City sweep is for Hamas to hand over the hostages and lay down its arms.
“We are already seeing a flexibility in the Hamas position,” Energy Minister Eli Cohen, a member of the security cabinet, told Kol Barama radio. “We are poised to take action to defeat Hamas, and our demand is for a full deal — a deal that will bring back all 48 hostages — those who are alive as well as those who aren’t.”
The Hamas-run health ministry — which doesn’t distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties — said on Friday that over 63,000 Palestinians have died during the subsequent war. Israel has lost more than 450 soldiers in Gaza combat.
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