RSS
Here Are Some of the US-Designated Terrorists That Israel Has Eliminated Over the Past Year
Iraqi Shiite Muslim men from the Iran-backed group Kataib Hezbollah march in a Quds Day parade, in Baghdad, July 25, 2014. Photo: Reuters / Thaier al-Sudani.
In its fight against Iranian regime-backed terror groups in both Gaza and Lebanon, Israel is not only defending its own territory, citizens, and national interests — but it is also helping the United States and other Western nations that are threatened by the Islamic Republic and its proxies.
Since October 7, Israel has eliminated several top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, who have been designated as terrorists by the US State Department, including some who have had American blood on their hands for more than 40 years.
The following is a list of these US-designated terrorists that Israel has eliminated since October 7, 2023:
Marwan Issa
Terror affiliation: Hamas
Date added to the US terrorism list: September 10, 2019
Date of death: March 11, 2024
Nicknamed “The Shadow Man,” Marwan Issa was the deputy head of Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, and was considered to be the third highest-ranking Hamas official in Gaza.
One of the earliest members of the Qassam Brigades, Issa was one of the key figures who helped develop it into a paramilitary organization, and he was also a central force behind many anti-Israel terror attacks since the late 1980s.
Issa is considered to be one of the central figures behind the planning of Hamas’ October 7 attack.
Ismail Haniyeh
Terror affiliation: Hamas
Date added to the US terrorism list: January 31, 2018
Date of death: July 31, 2024
Ismail Haniyeh was the political head of Hamas, having previously served as its head in Gaza (until 2017).
As head of the terror organization, Haniyeh played a role in the violent ouster of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority from the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Following the October 7 attack, Haniyeh both publicly celebrated the rampage, and justified it as an effective assault against the Jewish State.
Abu Anas Al-Ghandour
Terror affiliation: Hamas
Date added to the US terrorism list: April 6, 2017
Date of death: November 14, 2023
Abu Anas Al-Ghandour, also known as Ahmed Ghandour, was a senior member of Hamas, serving as the Qassam Brigades chief in northern Gaza and also as a member of the terror organization’s decision-making council.
Al-Ghandour was responsible for several terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and military personnel in both Gaza and the West Bank, including the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
According to the IDF, Al-Ghandour was a “leading figure in the planning and execution of the October 7th massacre.”
Prior to the operational pause, IDF aircraft eliminated five senior Hamas commanders in Gaza:
· Ahmed Ghandour, Commander of Hamas’ Northern Gaza Brigade
· Aiman Siam, Head of Hamas’ Rockets Array
· Wael Rajeb, Deputy Commander of Hamas’ Northern Gaza Brigade
· Farsan Halifa,… pic.twitter.com/iter9OdBnX
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 27, 2023
Muhammed Deif
Terror affiliation: Hamas
Date added to the US terrorism list: September 8, 2015
Date of death: July 13, 2024
Considered to be the number two Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Muhammed Deif was head of the Qassam Brigades and is thought to be the mastermind behind the October 7 attack.
A prominent member of Hamas for decades, Deif spearheaded Hamas’ use of rockets and tunnels and was also implicated in many terror bombings against Israeli civilians during the 1990s and 2000s.
In the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, Deif was responsible for firing rockets at Israel during humanitarian ceasefires, endangering both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
Rawhi Mushtaha
Terror affiliation: Hamas
Date added to the US terrorism list: September 8, 2015
Date of death: July 2024
Considered to be the “de facto prime minister of Gaza,” Rawhi Mushtaha was the highest-ranking political leader of Hamas in Gaza, while also being involved in the terror organization’s violent activities.
An early leader of the Qassam Brigades, Mushtaha was sentenced to four life terms in Israeli prison for orchestrating terror attacks against the Jewish State, only to be released in 2011 during the Shalit deal.
Mushtaha was a close confidante of Yahya Sinwar, having served with him in Israeli prison and then co-founding Hamas’ internal security service together. This security service was responsible for the torture and killing of Palestinians suspected of cooperating with Israel.
Rawhi Mushtaha was one of the few Hamas leaders to be intimately involved in planning the October 7 attack on southern Israel.
Approximately 3 months ago, in a joint IDF and ISA strike in Gaza, the following terrorists were eliminated:
Rawhi Mushtaha, the Head of the Hamas government in Gaza
Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio on Hamas’ political bureau and Hamas’ Labor Committee
Sami… pic.twitter.com/6xpH6tOOot
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 3, 2024
Fu’ad Shukr
Terror affiliation: Hezbollah
Date added to the US terrorism list: September 10, 2019
Date of death: July 30, 2024
Fu’ad Shukr was one of Hezbollah’s most senior leaders, serving on its highest decision-making council and also directing its military operations.
One of the earliest members of the Lebanon-based terror group, Shukr helped coordinate attacks on foreigners in the 1980s, controlled the terror organization’s operations in southern Lebanon in the 1990s and 2000s, and was part of Hezbollah’s deployment to Syria in the 2010s to defend the Assad regime.
In his role as commander of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon during the 2000s, Shukr orchestrated a number of cross-border attacks against Israel, including the ambush and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers in 2006 that precipitated the Second Lebanon War.
As a point man between Iran and Hezbollah, Shukr is largely credited with helping to expand Hezbollah’s arsenal into one of the largest controlled by a non-state actor.
In 2017, the US government offered a $5 million reward for information on Shukr’s whereabouts, for his role in the 1983 suicide bombing of the US Marine Barracks (which killed 241 American servicemembers) and French military barracks (which killed 58 French personnel).
Ibrahim Aqil
Terror affiliation: Hezbollah
Date added to the US terrorism list: September 10, 2019
Date of death: September 20, 2024
Similar to Fu’ad Shukr (who he replaced after the latter’s assassination), Ibrahim Aqil was an early member of Hezbollah who rose through the ranks to become a member of the terror group’s highest military body.
Through his 40-year career as a terrorist, Aqil had led Hezbollah’s foreign operations unit, was instrumental in providing Hezbollah’s support to the Assad regime during the Syrian civil war, and served as commander of the Radwan Forces (Hezbollah’s elite troops).
In the past few years, Aqil had been involved in several attacks across the Israel-Lebanon border, including the Megiddo Junction bombing in March 2023.
The United States offered a $7 million reward for Ibrahim Aqil’s whereabouts due to his involvement in anti-American terrorism in Lebanon in the 1980s, including the taking of American and German citizens as hostages, the 1983 US embassy bombing in Beirut (which killed 63 people), and the US Marines barracks bombing.
Ali Karaki
Terror affiliation: Hezbollah
Date added to the US terrorism list: September 10, 2019
Date of death: September 27, 2024
A member of Hezbollah’s highest military body, Ali Karaki (also known as Ali Karki), was commander of Hezbollah’s southern sector and was responsible for all of the terror group’s attacks that originated in southern Lebanon.
According to the Alma Research and Education Center, every anti-Israel attack since October 8 that originated in the south was either authorized by Karaki or directly coordinated with him.
After the assassination of Ibrahim Aqil, Karaki was chosen to be one of his successors.
Following a failed assassination attempt earlier that week, Ali Karaki was killed in the Israeli airstrike against Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah.
Hashem Safieddine
Terror affiliation: Hezbollah
Date added to the US terrorism list: May 19, 2017
Date of death: Presumed killed October 3, 2024
A relative of Hassan Nasrallah, Hashem Safieddine was presumed to be Nasrallah’s successor as secretary general of Hezbollah following the latter’s assassination by Israel.
During Nasrallah’s lifetime, Safieddine was considered to be the number two figure in Hezbollah’s hierarchy, serving as head of the terror organization’s executive council and as a member of its chief military body.
Safieddine also had close ties to Hezbollah’s backers in Iran, which even extended into his family life – his son is married to the daughter of Qassem Soleimani, the former head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, who was assassinated by the United States in 2020.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Here Are Some of the US-Designated Terrorists That Israel Has Eliminated Over the Past Year first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays
A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.
The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.
“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.
“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.
The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”
RSS
Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.
Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.
The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.
Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.
ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK
He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.
US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.
Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.
Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.
It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.
Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.
Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.
Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.
“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.
Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.
Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.
RSS
Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
i24 News – An Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.
Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.
Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.
On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”
A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”
Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.
Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.
Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.