Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has confirmed the death of its longtime spokesperson Abu Obeida, saying he was killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza City in August. The group announced his death on Monday while also introducing a new spokesperson through a prerecorded message aired on Arab media.
In the message, the new spokesperson paid tribute to Abu Obeida, describing him as a senior leader who headed the Qassam Brigades’ media office for nearly two decades. “Today, we mourn Abu Obeida, whose real name was the great leader Huthaifa Samir al Kahlout, who passed away after two decades of frustrating the enemies,” he said.
The spokesperson also confirmed the deaths of other senior Hamas military leaders. He said Mohammed al Sinwar, a former commander of the Qassam Brigades, was killed by Israeli forces in May, while Raed Saad, another senior leader, was killed earlier this month.
Abu Obeida, a nom de guerre, had served as the public face of Hamas’s military wing since the early 2000s. He was widely known for his televised statements in which he gave battlefield updates, claimed military successes and issued threats or warnings to Israel. He always appeared with his face covered by a red keffiyeh, a practice that earned him the nickname “the masked one” across the Arab world.
Over the years, he became one of Hamas’s most recognisable figures, with his image often seen at protests and his name mentioned in songs and slogans. His prominence increased further after the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023 and the subsequent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
Very little was publicly known about his personal life. In a rare interview in 2005, he said his family had been displaced during the 1948 Nakba and later settled in the Gaza Strip. At the time, he indicated that he was in his early twenties, suggesting he was born in the mid nineteen eighties. Sources within Hamas have said that only a small number of people knew his real identity before his death.
The name Abu Obeida was adopted during the Second Intifada, when he first appeared publicly. It is believed to refer to Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah, a close companion of the Prophet Muhammad and a historic military commander.
His first public appearance as the spokesperson of the Qassam Brigades came in 2004 during an Israeli ground operation in northern Gaza. Two years later, he gained international attention when he announced the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. In 2014, during another war on Gaza, he announced the capture of Israeli soldier Shaul Aron and revealed his identity details in a recorded message.
Outside periods of active fighting, Abu Obeida occasionally commented on political developments. In 2022, after six Palestinian prisoners who had escaped from an Israeli jail were rearrested, he said Hamas would secure their release in a future prisoner exchange. In October 2024, he criticised Arab leaders for failing to ensure humanitarian aid reached Gaza, saying it was shocking that they could not even provide basic relief. His use of the phrase “God forbid” in that speech later became a popular expression on social media.
Israel had reportedly tried to assassinate him several times over the past twenty years, including twice after October 2023. In April 2024, the United States imposed sanctions on him, calling him Hamas’s “information warfare chief” and accusing him of leading the group’s cyber influence operations.
