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Israel Eliminates Senior Hamas Founder Linked to October 7 Massacre

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Saturday that it had killed Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa, a founding member of Hamas and one of the chief architects behind the October 7, 2023, massacre, in a targeted airstrike in Gaza City.

Al-Issa, who served as head of Hamas’ combat and administrative support division, was eliminated in the Sabra neighborhood late Friday in a joint operation with the Israel Security Agency (ISA). The IDF described him as a “central source of knowledge” and one of the last remaining senior operatives who held a high-level position prior to the October 7 attacks.

“In the past, Issa led Hamas’s force build-up efforts in the Gaza Strip, served as head of training, and was a key figure in the group’s general military council,” the IDF said. “He played a significant role in the planning and execution of the murderous massacre on October 7.”

The October 7 attack, widely condemned as one of the most brutal in modern Israeli history, saw Hamas-led terrorists infiltrate southern Israel, murdering approximately 1,200 people–mostly civilians–and kidnapping 251 others amid reports of widespread atrocities. Israel has since engaged in a prolonged military campaign in Gaza, aimed at dismantling Hamas’ operational capacity.

At the time of his death, Al-Issa was overseeing Hamas’ combat support headquarters, directing both aerial and maritime terror operations against Israeli civilians and soldiers. The military noted that he was also working to rebuild Hamas infrastructure that had been decimated during the war.

Israeli forces also announced the killing of Abbas Al-Hassan Wahbi, a Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon, on Saturday. Wahbi was reportedly a key figure in Hezbollah’s “Radwan Force” intelligence operations and was involved in weapons transfers in violation of Israel-Lebanon agreements.

“The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat posed to the state of Israel,” said the IDF.

The strike on Al-Issa follows a string of Israeli operations that have targeted high-ranking terrorists across the region. Among them was the recent elimination of Iranian commander Saeed Izadi, a key liaison between Tehran and Hamas. Izadi, according to Israeli intelligence, played a significant role in financing and arming Hamas and was “one of the orchestrators” of the October 7 massacre.

While the IDF says it has killed more than 20,000 Hamas terrorists in Gaza since the start of the war, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claims over 53,000 people have been killed or are presumed dead–a figure Israel disputes, citing Hamas’ use of civilian areas for military operations.

Fifty hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli officials, including at least 28 confirmed dead. Twenty are believed to be alive, though their conditions remain unknown.

As Israel continues to dismantle what remains of Hamas’ leadership, military officials have vowed to pursue every terrorist connected to the October 7 attack until justice is served.

History of Hamas

Hamas was founded in 1987 during the First Intifada as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza. Formally known as Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (Islamic Resistance Movement), it positioned itself as a religious-nationalist alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), with the goal of establishing an Islamic state in all of historic Palestine. From the beginning, Hamas combined political activism, social services, and armed resistance, gaining grassroots support for its uncompromising stance against Israel.

Its 1988 charter cast the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a religious war, declaring that all of Palestine—“from the river to the sea”—is Islamic land that cannot be surrendered. It rejected peace talks and called for Israel’s destruction through jihad, drawing on Islamic texts and invoking conspiracy theories, including anti-Semitic claims that blamed Jews for global turmoil. One of the most notable elements of the 1988 Hamas Charter is its quotation of a hadith widely associated with Islamic End Times narratives, stating that the Day of Judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews. This prophecy has been interpreted by some radical groups as a divine mandate for war, framing the conflict not merely as political, but as part of an apocalyptic struggle. From the charter:

“The Day of Judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say: ‘O Muslim, O servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.’”

This hadith, found in Sahih Muslim, is interpreted by many radical groups to mean that the final confrontation between Muslims and Jews is a necessary step before the arrival of the Mahdi (the guided one) and the return of Jesus (Isa) to defeat evil and establish justice.

While not all Muslims accept this eschatological view, Hamas incorporates it into its ideology, portraying its struggle as part of a larger, prophetic battle. This religious framing elevates the conflict beyond politics, casting it as a cosmic confrontation with apocalyptic significance that further entrenches divisions and complicates prospects for peace.

While many prophecy teachers draw from Isaiah 60 to proclaim, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you,” noting that this light shines brightest when “deep darkness covers the earth,” they also point to a striking connection later in the same chapter. In verse 18, the word translated as “violence” is ḥāmās in Hebrew—the same word used for the terror group Hamas. The verse declares, “Violence shall no longer be heard in your land.” This linguistic and prophetic overlap has led several prophecy teachers to suggest that the rising glory of God upon Israel and His people may be directly tied to the judgment and eventual elimination of Hamas from the land, marking a significant indicator of where we stand in God’s prophetic timeline.

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