One of them was Sinwar’s bodyguard… Israel announces the deaths of two Hamas elite members
Israel announced on Thursday that two Hamas members had been killed in the Gaza Strip, noting that one of them was “a personal bodyguard of Yahya Sinwar”.
The Israeli military and the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, said that two members of Hamas’s “elite” forces had been killed in two separate strikes on the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
In a statement posted on its account on X, the Israeli military said it had targeted Hazem Moussa in a strike on Khan Younis on Sunday.
The statement added that “Moussa was a member of the elite forces and participated in the infiltration of the Re’im military base during the October 7, 2023 attack”, referring to the attack carried out by Hamas that day against communities in southern Israel.
Sinwar’s bodyguard
In another strike carried out by the military in the city on Monday, Rizq Suhail Suleiman Abu Shahma was killed. The military also described him as a member of the “elite” forces, stating that he “also participated in the infiltration of the Re’im base during the October attack, before later serving as Yahya Sinwar’s personal bodyguard”.
Israeli forces killed Yahya Sinwar, the then-leader of Hamas, in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in October 2024.
The military said the two strikes were carried out “after intelligence was obtained indicating that the two men posed an ongoing threat”, according to its account.
Despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement in October 2025 under US auspices, which brought an end to a devastating two-year war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli military strikes have continued.
The military says the strikes are aimed at thwarting attacks carried out by Hamas and other armed factions in Gaza.
Hamas, meanwhile, accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire and undermining efforts to implement a broader plan put forward by US President Donald Trump to end the conflict in Gaza. The plan also includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the disarmament of the movement.
