The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Sunday that an attack on Abu Obeidah, the iconic Hamas spokesman, had been successful, and that he was dead.
Abu Obeidah had become a cult figure among anti-Israel extremists, even featuring on flags and posters at anti-Israel protests in the West.
In a statement, the IDF said:
Yesterday (Saturday), the IDF and ISA eliminated Hudahaifa Kahlout “Abu Obaidah,” who headed Hamas’ Military Wing propaganda apparatus and psychological terror operations, and was the spokesman of Hamas’ military wing.
The operation was directed from the ISA situation room and was made possible due to prior intelligence gathered by the ISA and the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate, identifying the terrorist’s hiding place.
Obaidah was one of the last remaining senior terrorists of Hamas’ Military Wing from before October 7th, 2023. Over the past decade, Kahlout was responsible for Hamas’ military wing propaganda apparatus. In this role, he oversaw spokesmanship across Hamas’ brigades and battalions, coordinated between the organization’s political spokespeople and its military wing, and was a senior figure in determining propaganda policy.
He served as the public face of the Hamas terrorist organization, and as part of his role, he disseminated Hamas’ propaganda to promote terrorist activity, seeking to influence the Gazan public and Hamas supporters across the Middle East and the world. Additionally, he led Hamas’ propaganda campaigns and psychological terrorism both during the current war and before it.
Under Kahlout’s command, Hamas’ propaganda apparatus was responsible for spreading footage of the atrocities of the October 7th massacre, using footage taken by Hamas terrorists.
Additionally, he was also responsible for distributing incitement videos across the Arab world and among the Palestinian public, encouraging them to commit similar acts of terrorism.
Throughout the war, Kahlout and his aides were behind the release of psychological terror videos showing abducted Israeli civilians and soldiers in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF and ISA will continue to act against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip and to remove any threat posed to the State of Israel.
Earlier Sunday, before Obeidah had been confirmed dead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said (translated from Hebrew by the Government Press Office): “We attacked the Hamas spokesman, the spokesman for an evil and murderous organization, Abu Obeida. While I hope that he is no longer with us, I note that there is no spokesperson to report on this from the Hamas side.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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