Overview

Rawhi Mushtaha is a U.S.-designated Hamas senior leader and one of the coordinators of the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, which launched the Hamas-Israel War. A founding member of Hamas’s military wing, Mushtaha has been connected to a series of Hamas’s crimes, leading to his designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the U.S. Department of State on September 8, 2015.“Terrorist Designations of Yahya Sinwar, Rawhi Mushtaha, and Muhammed Deif,” U.S. Department of State, September 8, 2015, https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/09/246686.htm.

Mushtaha is credited with founding the forerunner of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. While running Hamas’s military operations in 1988,“Gaza prisoner’s wife awaits husband she hardly knows,” Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2011, https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/world-now/story/2011-10-16/gaza-prisoners-wife-awaits-husband-she-hardly-knows. Mushtaha was arrested by Israel and subsequently sentenced to serve four life sentences for murder and acts of terrorism.“Rawhi Jamal Mushtaha,” Global Fight Against Terrorism Funding, June 28, 2016, https://www.gfatf.org/archives/rawhi-jamal-mushtaha/. He was incarcerated until 2011 when he was released as part of a prisoner exchange deal for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The deal saw the release of Shalit from Hamas captivity in exchange for the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.“U.S. And UK Target Additional Hamas Finance Officials and Representatives,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, December 13, 2023, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1981; Ben Quinn, “Gilad Shalit freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners,” Guardian (London), October 18, 2011, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/18/gilad-shalit-palestine-prisoners-freed.

Sometime after his release, Mushtaha and Yahya Sinwar—Hamas’s political chief in the Gaza Strip—co-founded Munazzamat al Jihad w’al-Dawa (Majd), the group’s internal security force within the Qassam Brigades.“Internal Security Force (ISF) – HAMAS,” European Council of Foreign Relations, accessed March 6, 2024, https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_palestinian_politics/internal_security_force/. The Majd’s operations focused on identifying Israeli spies among Hamas and Palestinian civilians.“YAHYA SINWAR – HAMAS’ NEW MAN,” Jerusalem Institute of Justice, June 21, 2017, https://jij.org/news/yahya-sinwar-hamas-new-man/. During Hamas internal elections in April 2012, Mushtaha won election to Hamas’s political bureau.“Elections for Hamas' Leading Institutions in the Gaza Strip – Results and Significance,” Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, accessed March 6, 2024, https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20333/E_095_12_829672402.pdf. Mushtaha is known as one of Hamas’s more hawkish members. In 2015, he publicly called on the Qassam Brigades to kidnap Israeli citizens to prompt further exchange deals to free imprisoned Hamas members.“Terrorist Designations of Yahya Sinwar, Rawhi Mushtaha, and Muhammed Deif,” U.S. Department of State, September 8, 2015, https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/09/246686.htm.

Mushtaha remained a principle official within Hamas’s Gaza politburo, eventually taking charge of the unit’s financial affairs.Emanuel Fabian, “Army says it struck Hamas underground sites where senior,” Times of Israel, November 17, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-says-it-struck-hamas-underground-sites-where-senior-commanders-were-hiding/. Given his status within the organization, the U.S. Department of State designated Mushtaha as an SDGT on September 8, 2015.“Terrorist Designations of Yahya Sinwar, Rawhi Mushtaha, and Muhammed Deif,” U.S. Department of State, September 8, 2015, https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/09/246686.htm. Mushtaha’s activities were not limited to the organization’s financial affairs as media sources later noted his participation in coordinating the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that preceded a war between Israel and Hamas.“‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ : Initiated by 70 Elite Fighters, Crafted by 5 Hamas Leaders,” Asharq al-Awsat (London), January 10, 2024, https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/4780421-%E2%80%98al-aqsa-flood%E2%80%99-initiated-70-elite-fighters-crafted-5-hamas-leaders.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a massive attack on Israel, killing at least 1,200 and wounding almost 4,000. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also took hostage at least 240 people, mostly civilians.Ammar Awad and Maayan Lubell, “Gunmen in homes, captives abducted leave Israelis in shock,” Reuters, October 7, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gunmen-homes-captives-abducted-gaza-leave-israelis-shock-2023-10-07/; Lauren Frayer, “Israel revises down its death toll from the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks to about 1,200,” NPR, November 11, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/11/11/1212458974/israel-revises-death-toll-hamas-attacks-oct-7. During the attack, Hamas fighters blew up part of the border fence and then used bulldozers to widen the gap before sending hundreds of fighters into Israel on motorbikes. At the same time, Hamas launched thousands of rockets as far north as Tel Aviv. The Hamas fighters spread into more than a dozen Israeli communities and military bases within 15 miles of the Gaza border.Samia Nakhoul and Jonathan Saul, “How Israel was duped as Hamas planned devastating assault,” Reuters, October 8, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-israel-was-duped-hamas-planned-devastating-assault-2023-10-08/. A December 2023 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) investigation found that Hamas had used an unspecified but toxic flammable substance in its attack on the Nahal Oz IDF base, which surveilled the Gaza border. According to the investigation, Hamas attackers threw the substance through the entrance of the building that housed the surveillance soldiers’ command center, causing suffocation and loss of consciousness within a few minutes.“Hamas used toxic substance to kill Nahal Oz troops on Oct. 7, IDF probe said to show,” Times of Israel, December 13, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/nahal-oz-troops-killed-by-toxic-gas-during-oct-7-hamas-attack-idf-probe-said-to-show/. Hamas claimed it had launched 5,000 rockets toward Israel on the first day of the war. Hamas designated its attack “Al-Aqsa Storm,” though it has also been labeled “Al-Aqsa Flood.”Ibrahim Dahman and Abeer Salman, “Hamas announces ‘Al-Aqsa Storm,’ claims to have fired 5,000 rockets,” CNN, October 7, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/al-aqsa-storm-militants-infiltrate-israel-after-gaza-rockets-10-07-intl-hnk/h_644aa5e5d02286051f5cc307e229566a; “Al-Aqsa Flood was a ‘fully Palestinian operation’, Iran’s IRGC says,” New Arab, December 28, 2023, https://www.newarab.com/news/al-aqsa-flood-fully-palestinian-operation-irans-irgc. In the period between October 7 and December 2023, Hamas launched more than 12,000 rockets toward Israel.“Hamas rockets target Tel Aviv area for first time in a week,” Jewish News Service, December 19, 2023, https://www.jns.org/hamas-rockets-target-tel-aviv-area-for-first-time-in-a-week/.

The October 7 attack was planned and executed solely by Hamas leaders in Gaza without input from the Hamas political leadership abroad, according to multiple media reports interviewing Palestinians close to the Hamas leadership. In January 2024, the British newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported that five individuals coordinated the October 7 attack: Mushtaha, Yahya Sinwar, his brother Muhammad Sinwar, Qassam Brigades leader Mohammed Deif, and Ayman Nofal. They reportedly chose the date of October 7 because of the reports of calm along the border. They confirmed their plans on October 6 and waited until midnight that night to begin the attack with 70 fighters from elite Hamas units who were trained in infiltrating Israeli settlements. Palestinian sources told the newspaper that Hamas’s political leaders in Qatar were not informed of the attack until hours beforehand when they received a briefing and instructions to go into hiding. After the first hour-and-a-half of the attacks, Hamas mobilized elite units within the Qassam Brigades to support the initial attackers.“‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ : Initiated by 70 Elite Fighters, Crafted by 5 Hamas Leaders,” Asharq al-Awsat (London), January 10, 2024, https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/4780421-%E2%80%98al-aqsa-flood%E2%80%99-initiated-70-elite-fighters-crafted-5-hamas-leaders.

At one point in November 2023, the IDF announced that it had carried out airstrikes targeting a tunnel reportedly hiding Mushtaha and Hamas’s other senior political and military leaders in Gaza. It is unclear whether Mushtaha and the others survived the attack.Emanuel Fabian, “Army says it struck Hamas underground sites where senior,” Times of Israel, November 17, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-says-it-struck-hamas-underground-sites-where-senior-commanders-were-hiding/.