How Did The Shin Bet Trace Hamas Spokesman Abu Obeida?

The IDF, with the assistance of the Shin Bet, succeeded last week in eliminating a key figure in Hamas, Abu Obeida, the terrorist organization’s spokesman, or by his full name Huthayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout. The intelligence behind the assassination of Obeida, a shadowy figure who appeared only in a Khaffiya for his reports, reveals a high level of deception which enabled the success of the operation.

According to open source intelligence (OSINT) reports online, the IDF permitted on August 18 the publication of fake news that 4 Israeli soldiers were missing and others had been killed in a Hamas ambush. Al- Jazeera quickly reverberated the fake report and then its producers pushed senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rasha, to call Abu Obeida to confirm the story.

Israel was able to intercept the call to Obeida and thus track his location, which was a new apartment he had recently rented. A short time later he was eliminated. Abu Obeida’s brother was also arrested a few weeks before his elimination, and he may have provided further information which enabled the assassination to take place.

In another embarrassment to Hamas, the IDF published on Friday a picture of Abu Obeida standing together with other senior officials- Mohammed Deif (since eliminated) and two other senior Hamas brigadiers, one of who has also been eliminated. The picture was initially released by Hamas itself but with blurred faces, as the organization did not want their identities known.

Following the exposure of this unblurred and clear image of Abu Obaida by the IDF, Gazan channels began calling the Al Jazeera journalist, Tamer Al-Mishal, “a collaborator”, after he was the only one who had the documentation without the blurring.