On the evening of Monday, October 16th 2023, the head of the Hamas Shura Council, Osama al-Muzaini (Abu Hammam), and his two sons, the eldest 27-year-old son Hammam (Hummam) Osama Atiya al-Muzaini and 23-year-old Muhammad Osama Atiya al-Muzaini, were killed in a declared Israeli airstrike on his home in the Gaza Strip.

57-year-old Osama al-Muzaini was a senior member of Hamas’s political bureau and a former Hamas education Minister (2011-2014). He had previously been involved in the negotiations involving Gilad Shalit, an IDF soldier held captive by Hamas in Gaza for five years (2006-2011). He was a senior Hamas figure, and there is no public evidence at the time of publication that demonstrated involvement in the organisation’s militant wing, though the IDF noted that he “directed terrorism” inside Israel in their post about the strike. One user, @awniaz, shared a post online referring to his potential involvement in militant activities, stating, “he fought the battle as a mujahid… the martyred commander Osama al-Muzaini.”

Given the ambiguity around his militant status, Airwars has counted Muzaini in the upper belligerent range and excluded his death from the lower toll. This will be updated should more information come to light.

On October 17, 2023, Israeli army spokesperson Avichai Adraee posted a video clip of the incident, with a comment saying, “The army and Shin Bet are liquidating the so-called Osama al-Muzaini, head of the Hamas Shura Council.” Adraee added that al-Muzaini “was responsible for Hamas prisoners and directed terrorist activities against Israel.” The IDF also confirmed the strike in its statement, a copy of which was sent to Anadolu news agency: “IDF and the General Security Service (Shin Bet) were able to liquidate Osama Al-Muzaini, head of the Hamas Shura Council.”

Following the incident, Hamas confirmed the killing of Al-Muzaini in a statement that said, “We mourn the martyr Osama al-Muzaini, a member of the movement’s political bureau, who was martyred as a result of the treacherous Zionist bombing of Gaza.”

Many social media tributes contained the images of the late Osama, a middle-aged man with grey hair and grey beard. Facebook user atiya.ahmad.37 also shared images of Osama’s sons – Muhammad al-Muzaini, a young bearded smiling man in a suit, and Hamam al-Muzainin, also a young man with a long dark beard dressed in a leather jacket.

Where possible, names of the victims have been matched with the Palestinian Ministry of Health list of fatalities in Gaza released on October 26th, 2023.

Although the Israeli military confirmed the death of Osama al-Muzaini as a result of the strike, it did not confirm the accompanying civilian harm.