Inside Israel’s Secret War: Leaders Taken Out One by One
Israel eliminates key figures in Gaza, Lebanon, beyond.
Since the devastating Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which killed over 1,200 Israelis and ignited the Gaza war, Israel has pursued an aggressive campaign of targeted killings, eliminating senior leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran’s military across the Middle East. These high-profile assassinations, spanning from Gaza to Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen, have dismantled key command structures but heightened fears of regional escalation.
On January 2, 2024, Saleh Arouri, a deputy political leader of Hamas and founder of its Qassam Brigades, was killed in a drone strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Long targeted for orchestrating West Bank attacks, Arouri was a priority for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even before October 7. On July 13, 2024, Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’s military wing and a mastermind of the October 7 attack, was killed in an airstrike near Khan Younis, Gaza, alongside over 90 civilians. Deif, who built Hamas’s rocket arsenal, had evaded multiple assassination attempts.
Hezbollah suffered significant blows, starting with the July 30, 2024, killing of Fouad Shukur, a top commander accused of the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing, in a Beirut airstrike. On September 27, 2024, Hezbollah’s founder and leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Beirut, a major setback for the group’s Iranian-backed “axis of resistance.” The next day, Nabil Kaouk, deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council, was killed in a similar strike. Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah’s cousin and successor, was eliminated on October 3, 2024, targeting Hezbollah’s Shura and Jihad Councils.
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In Iran, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31, 2024, in Tehran during a presidential inauguration. On June 13, 2025, Israeli strikes killed Gen. Hossein Salami, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, among other top officials. In Yemen, Ahmed al-Rahawi, prime minister of the Houthi-controlled government, died in airstrikes on Sanaa on August 28, 2025, marking the highest-ranking Houthi casualty in a joint US-Israeli campaign.
Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, the October 7 mastermind, was killed in Rafah on October 16, 2024, in a chance encounter with Israeli troops. His brother, Mohammed Sinwar, head of Hamas’s armed wing, was killed on May 13, 2025. On August 30, 2025, Hudhaifa Kahlout, known as Abu Obeida, Hamas’s armed wing spokesperson, was killed in Gaza.
Most recently, on September 9, 2025, Israel struck Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, during ceasefire talks, killing six, though Hamas claimed its top figures survived. The attack, condemned as a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty, has prompted an emergency UN Security Council meeting. While Israel’s operations have significantly weakened its adversaries, they risk fueling retaliation and broader conflict, with Iran and its allies vowing to respond.
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