IDF kills head of Mujahideen terror group in Gaza, which held Bibas family hostage

The terrorist Musbah Salim Musbah Dayyah, who served as the head of the Mujahideen terrorist organization, was killed during an airstrike in the Gaza Strip.

Musbah Salim Musbah Dayyah, the head of the Mujahideen terrorist group that held the Bibas family hostage, was killed in a joint strike by the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), the military confirmed on Wednesday.

Dayyah was the fourth leader of his operation to be eliminated in Gaza, with him having a role in organizing terror attacks both in Gaza and in the West Bank.

The IDF stated that Mujahideen terrorists took "a significant part in the brutal October 7 massacre," including abduction and murder.

Dayyah was operating in the Nuseirat area before being killed. He was the third such leader of the terror group after the three previous leaders were killed by the IDF in the past few months.

Kataib al-Mujahideen (Holy Warriors Brigades) is the armed wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement and one of the organizations that invaded Israel during the October 7 massacre.

Terror group responsible abduction, murder, of several hostages

They were responsible for 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.

The IDF had already 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, in strikes at the beginning of June.

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 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.