Palestinian Mujahideen leader Asaad Abu Sharia killed in Gaza, Israeli army says

Israeli forces claimed on Saturday that they killed the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement in airstrikes on Gaza City.

Asaad Abu Sharia, who is also the commander of the group's armed military wing, the Mujahideen Brigades, was reportedly killed alongside his brother in the attack.

Hamas confirmed the killing in a statement shared on Telegram, saying that Abu Sharia’s brother, Ahmed, had also been assassinated in the attack, which the Palestinian group described as "part of a series of brutal massacres against civilians".

A close aid of Abu Sharia, Mahmoud Kaheel, was also killed, according to the Mujahideen Brigades.

Israel on Saturday carried out what was described as a massacre on Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood, killing at least 16 people, including Abu Sharia.

Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basel told Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera that the Israeli army gave "no warning, no alert" before the strike.

Dozens more are feared buried under rubble. The strike occurred on the second day of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha.

In a statement, Israel said Abu Sharia was killed following what it called a "joint operation" by the army and the Shin Bet security service. The statement also claimed that Abu Sharia and the Mujahideen Brigades had participated in the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023, which triggered the deadly Gaza war.

The Israeli military also alleged that Abu Sharia was involved in the capturing and killing of several Israeli captives, including Shiri Bibas.

The Palestinian Mujahideen movement was founded by Abu Sharia’s brother, Omar, in the early 2000s after it split from Fatah. Asaad took over in 2007 after the Israeli military killed the elder Abu Sharia in an attack.

Abu Sharia lead the rebuilding and expansion of the organisation to include the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces had attempted to assassinate him on multiple occasions prior. In 2008, Abu Sharia was wounded by an Israeli airstrike but continued to lead the Mujahideen group.

Abu Sharia was born in February 1977 in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City to a Palestinian refugee family from the 1948 city of Beersheba, located around 40 kilometers from the enclave.

According to The New Arab’s Arabic-language site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, he earned a bachelor's degree in law from Al-Azhar University in Gaza and worked in the city's judiciary and prosecution for years before becoming involved in politics and the military.