Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Goldberg/Flash90)
Saudi media outlet claims Palestinian sources have confirmed the death of Hamas’ top spokesman, Abu Obaida, following an IDF airstrike in Gaza City.
By World Israel News Staff
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mocked the Hamas terror organization Sunday following an airstrike that likely killed the group’s top spokesman.
On Saturday, Israeli warplanes struck Hamas positions in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, including the last known location of Abu Obaida, the spokesman for Hamas’ military wing, known as the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades.
Abu Obaida is the nom de guerre of Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout, a 40-year-old member of Hamas who has represented the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades since 2002.
While Israel has yet to verify Abu Obaida’s killing in the airstrike, Israeli officials said Saturday evening that they were “cautiously optimistic” the Hamas spokesman had in fact been killed.
A Palestinian source told the Saudi media outlet Al Arabiya on Sunday that Abu Obaida’s death was confirmed, though no formal statement has been made by Hamas.
A press release by Hamas Sunday afternoon made no mention of Abu Obaida.
Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu mocked Hamas and Abu Obaida’s apparent death, saying that the terror group’s silence regarding claims of its spokesman’s death appear to validate claims he was assassinated.
“In another joint operation, the Shin Bet and the IDF struck Hamas’s spokesman, the spokesman of the murderous, evil organization, Abu Obaida,” Netanyahu said.
“We still do not know the final result. I hope he is no longer with us, but I notice that there is no one to address this matter on Hamas’s side. So the coming hours and days will certainly tell whatever they will tell.”
According to the source cited by Al Arabiya, Saturday’s airstrikes included the bombing of a house recently rented by Abu Obaida. The Hamas spokesman was reportedly at home at the time of the strike along with his wife and children.
The Palestinian source cited in the report claimed that Hamas forces cordoned off the surrounding area in an attempt to prevent locals from retrieving Abu Obaida’s remains, thus concealing his death.
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