Mahmoud Afana, a member of Hamas’s Nukhba forces who was recorded boasting to his parents that he had killed members of Israel’s civilian population during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, was reported killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian media and Israel’s foreign ministry said Saturday.
Palestinian outlets said Afana was struck in the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah on Thursday; the Israel Defense Forces had not publicly confirmed the strike or his death as of the weekend. The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted on the social platform X that "On October 7, Mahmoud Afana called his parents to boast that he had murdered ten Jews. With his own hands. Today, he was eliminated by the IDF."
The recording of Afana’s conversation with his mother and father, in which he said, "I’m talking to you from a Jewish woman’s phone," was circulated by Israeli officials shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks and later shared publicly by then-foreign minister Eli Cohen, according to Israeli statements and media reports. In that recording, Afana is heard saying he had killed 10 people; the clip was used by Israeli authorities and commentators to identify participants in the assaults.
The Times of Israel and other outlets reported the Palestinian media announcement. The broader military campaign that followed the Oct. 7 attacks has included repeated Israeli airstrikes across Gaza and ground operations in and around populated areas, which Palestinian health officials and media have said have caused numerous civilian casualties. International monitors and media organizations have reported on both the heavy toll in Gaza and the mass killings of civilians and soldiers in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that precipitated the current hostilities.
Israeli authorities have, at times, disclosed targeted operations against individuals they say were involved in planning or carrying out the Oct. 7 attacks. In this instance, the foreign ministry’s post framed Afana’s killing as part of that effort. The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately provide an operational statement confirming responsibility for the strike or details on the intelligence or methods used.
Palestinian officials and local media typically report names and details of those killed in Israeli strikes; independent verification in the midst of ongoing hostilities can be difficult. The identification of militants and the attribution of specific strikes often come from a mix of statements by the parties to the conflict, social media postings, and reporting by regional outlets.
The Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas and allied militants on communities in southern Israel resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, the abduction of civilians and soldiers, and prompted Israel’s large-scale military campaign in Gaza. The conflict has since produced widespread international concern over civilian harm, humanitarian conditions in Gaza, and the prospects for a durable resolution.
Reports of Afana’s death underscore the continued focus by Israeli authorities on individuals they identify as directly involved in the Oct. 7 operations. Independent confirmation of specific claims about combatant identities and actions remains constrained by limited access on the ground, competing narratives from the parties to the conflict, and the intensity of ongoing military operations.