The IDF killed Kataib al-Mujahideen’s military wing commander Mahmoud Muhammad Hamid Kuhail, also known as Abu al-Mu’tasim, as well as As’ad Abu Sharaiya, head of the terrorist organization, in an airstrike on the Gaza Strip, the IDF announced on Saturday.
Kataib al-Mujahideen (Holy Warriors Brigades), the armed wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, has been linked to the October 7 massacre in Israel that included the abduction and murder of Shiri Bibas and her children, Kfir and Ariel, as well as the killing of Israeli-American-Canadian couple Judy Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai, and Thai workers.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has a long history of using violence and intimidation to maintain its authority. Those who aligned themselves with its military wing, such as this movement, participated in planning, financing, and carrying out attacks against Israel.
Hamas viewed these groups as essential for fundraising and for reinforcing its armed presence in Gaza, and as forces that could be mobilized against Israel as needed.
Security sources describe Kataib al-Mujahideen as relatively small but highly lethal and compartmentalized, which has allowed it to operate under the radar of the IDF and evade intelligence monitoring. The group has carried out rocket and mortar attacks on Israel. It has also been involved in attempts to activate terrorists inside Israel, both before and after October 7, often in coordination with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The group was established during the Second Intifada by senior terrorists who split from Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and adopted a more radical Salafi ideology. Its first commander, Omar Abu Sharaiya, was eliminated in an IDF targeted killing in 2006, after which his family took over leadership.
What is the Mujahideen group that held Judith Weinstein, Gadi Haggai?
The IDF on Thursday said it had retrieved the bodies of Judith Weinstein Haggai and her husband, Gadi Haggai, from Khan Yunis. They were murdered and their bodies were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre and held in Gaza for almost 20 months. Judith was 70 and Gadi was 72 when they were murdered. They had Israeli and US citizenship.
The Bibas family's statement following the killing
Terrorists from the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement murdered them, the IDF confirmed. This is the same terrorist group that is believed to have also kidnapped and murdered Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir. Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband and the children’s father, was released on February 1, 2025.
They were kidnapped also from Nir Oz on October 7, when terrorists overran the kibbutz.
“The elimination of this terrorist commander marks another step on our path toward closure and coming to terms with the unbearable loss of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir. While nothing can bring them back, we take some comfort in knowing that these despicable murderers can no longer harm another family,” the Hostages Families Forum press release wrote.
Seth J. Frantzman contributed to this report.