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Hamas confirms five dead, including four senior leaders, by IDF

December 30, 2025 | | Print Article

Hamas on Monday confirmed that four senior leaders and a top spokesperson have been killed by Israeli forces.

A new spokesperson for the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that former spokesperson Abu Obeida (a pseudonym) was killed during an Aug. 31 strike on Gaza City by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), according to The Jerusalem Post.

Some American leftists have already taken to mourning Abu Obeida’s death:

The new spokesperson, also named Abu Obeida, further confessed that the IDF has also killed four senior Hamas leaders.

While both the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) already confirmed all these kills in months prior, Monday marked the first time Hamas had admitted to them as well.

The senior leaders killed included Mohammad Sinwar, Hakham Muhammad Issa al-Issa, Mohammed Shabana, and Ra’ad Sa’ad. Sinwar was the brother of former Hamas chief Yahya al-Sinwar. Sinwar was killed roughly a year after the Oct. 7 terror attack.

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“He was killed in an Israel Air Force airstrike while operating in a command center near the European Hospital in Khan Yunis,” according to the Post. “Before he was killed in the strike, Sinwar served as the head of the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades.”

Shabana was killed during the same strike.

Sa’ad, a senior terrorist within the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, was reportedly killed during a targeted strike earlier this month.

“According to Israeli estimates, Sa’ad had been operating for months within the vast tunnel system around Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip,” the Post notes. “Sources said he had left the tunnels in a vehicle headed toward the eastern part of the city when he was targeted in multiple strikes.”

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At the time he was killed, Sa’ad was reportedly viewed as the second-top official of the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades.

The last leader, Issa, was another senior brigade leader who was killed during the June strikes on the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City.

“He was considered a founder of the brigades and held the role of head of combat support operations,” the Post reported.

Abu Obeida added in his Monday statement that the Oct. 7 terror attack was a “resounding explosion in the face of injustice, oppression, siege, and all forms of aggression against al-Aqsa and our people – aggression which crossed all red lines, ignored all calls and warnings, and threw all agreements to the wind.”

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As previously documented, the Oct. 7 terror attack was a horrific massacre during which countless innocent Israeli families were raped, tortured, and ultimately killed.

Abu Obeida continued by dismissing the ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October.

“We will not disarm, continue responding to Israel’s ‘crimes,'” he said, adding that Hamas has the “right to respond to Israel’s crimes.”

“Our people defend themselves and will not abandon their weapons as long as the occupation remains, and will not surrender even if they fight with their fingernails,” Abu Obeida further said.

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, announced on Monday that Hamas must fully disarm for any progress to be made on a permanent peace deal.

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“If they don’t disarm, as they agreed to do, they agreed to it, and then they will be hell to pay for them,” he said. “And we don’t want that. I’m not concerned about anything that Israel’s doing. I’m concerned about what other people are doing or maybe aren’t doing.”

He added that the United States and Israel’s Arab partners will take care of Hamas if they don’t disarm.

“Because they were for the deal based on the fact that Hamas pledged, they swore that they were going to disarm. Now, if they’re not going to disarm, those same countries will wipe out Hamas,” he explained.

Vivek Saxena
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