Who was Abu Obaida? Hamas confirms death of its masked voice in August, names new spokesperson | Today News

Hamas on Monday confirmed that its longtime spokesman Abu Obaida was killed following an Israeli strike in August in war-torn Gaza. Hamas also confirmed that its Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar was killed in the Gaza war earlier this year.

This is the first time the Hamas publicly acknowledged the death of two of its prominent figuress.

The Israeli military said in May that it had killed Sinwar, the younger brother of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Israel said on August 31 that its forces had killed Obaida, in an airstrike on Gaza.

Hamas, however, didn't say how he the two were killed and when.

The announcement came hours before US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Florida on Monday as Washington seeks fresh momentum for the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.

Obaida was born in Gaza in 1985. He first emerged in 2004, appearing in media briefings and press conferences on behalf of the Qassam Brigades. After Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, he was officially appointed the group’s spokesperson.

Abu Obaida had been among the most recognisable figures of the Qassam Brigades, since the group seized control of Gaza in 2007 from the the rival Palestinian group Fatah. He often delivered statements while masked, especially during major escalations, setting the tone for Hamas' threatening messaging and posture toward Israel.

Obaisa's speeches, delivered behind a red keffiyeh, became iconic across the Arab world, projecting defiance, resilience, and the unbroken will of the Palestinian people, according to a report in Tehran Times.

“From his first public appearance in 2004 during an Israeli ground assault in northern Gaza, he became the sole military spokesman of the Brigades, embodying the steadfastness of the resistance,” the report said, The Israeli military, however, said Obaida was key in Hamas' media and propaganda apparatus, saying the strike that killed him built on Israeli intelligence about his whereabouts.

Obaida's prominence grew after Hamas’attack in southern Israel on 7 October, 2023—dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm— and the subsequent war in Gaza. Obaida was the first to announce the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006, and later Shaul Aron in 2014.

Hamas released a new video on the Telegram messaging channel on Monday featuring the group's new spokesman, who said he was the new Abu Obaida and that he had inherited the nickname. The man, wearing a mask like his predecessor, did not give his actual name.

But he indicated Hamas' refusal to disarm — in violation of the US-brokered ceasefire deal in place since October.

“Our people are defending themselves and will not give up their weapons as long as the occupation remains,” the spokesman said.

Since the ceasefire started on October 10, Gaza's Health Ministry says that 414 people have been killed and 1,142 have been wounded in the coastal enclave. The overall Palestinian death toll from the war is at least 71,266.

The ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.