The Hamas most wanted cards are decks of playing cards featuring pictures of Hamas members wanted by the State of Israel. The decks were produced by independent volunteers and were handed out to Israel Defense Forces soldiers during the early stages of the Israel–Hamas war.[1] [2] [3]
As part of the Israel–Hamas war, an unofficial card deck of 54 wanted individuals were distributed to Israeli soldiers. The idea for the deck was inspired by the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards created by the Defense Intelligence Agency for identifying the top wanted members of Saddam Hussein's government during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The history of making such cards dates back to the American Civil War.[4] [3]
More than 10,000 decks of the cards were distributed to Israeli soldiers to help the soldiers identify top Hamas targets and to unsettle Hamas officials. The hierarchy of various Hamas officials have been mixed around in the deck in order to attempt to embarrass more higher-ranking officials.[5]
As of July 2024, 26 individuals from the list had been killed.
| JOKER | Mohammed Deif | Head of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades | Assassinated in July 2024.[6] | |
| JOKER | Salah al-Arouri | Deputy head of Hamas | Assassinated in January 2024.[7] | |
| A ♠ | Spokesperson of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades | |||
| A ♣ | Deputy of Mohammed Deif | Killed in March 2024.[8] | ||
| A ♦ | Head of Hamas Political Bureau | Assassinated in July 2024.[9] | ||
| A ♥ | Former head of Hamas Political Bureau | |||
| K ♠ | Head of Hamas government in Gaza | |||
| K ♣ | Chairman of the economic committee | Allegedly killed in July 2024.[10] | ||
| K ♦ | Deputy head of Hamas's political bureau | |||
| K ♥ | Asem Abu Rakaba | Head of the air wing | Killed in October 2023.[11] | |
| Q ♠ | Member of Hamas's political bureau | |||
| Q ♣ | Az al-Din Haddad | Commander of Gaza City Division (al-Qassam Brigades) | ||
| Q ♦ | Aiman Siam | Head of the rockets array | Killed in November 2023.[12] | |
| Q ♥ | Leader of Hamas in Gaza | |||
| J ♠ | Commander of the Southern Gaza Strip Division (al-Qassam Brigades) | |||
| J ♣ | Ayman Nofal | Commander of the Central Gaza Strip | Killed in October 2023.[13] | |
| J ♦ | Rafah Salama | Commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade (al-Qassam Brigades) | Assassinated in July 2024.[14] | |
| J ♥ | Ahmad Ghandour | Commander of the northern Gaza Strip | Killed in November 2023.[15] | |
| 10 ♠ | Youssef Abu al-Rish | Deputy Health Minister | ||
| 10 ♣ | Fa'ez Baroud | Commander in al-Qassam Brigades | ||
| 10 ♦ | Foreign relations officer | |||
| 10 ♥ | Mohammed Ouda | Head of Hamas intelligence | ||
| 9 ♠ | Ali al-Amoudi | Activist in Hamas propaganda department | ||
| 9 ♣ | Muhammad Atzar | Head of the anti-tank forces in Gaza | Killed in November 2023.[16] | |
| 9 ♦ | Zakaria Abu Maamar | Senior member of Hamas's political bureau | Killed in October 2023.[17] | |
| 9 ♥ | Member of Hamas Political Bureau | |||
| 8 ♠ | Ahmed Shamali | Deputy commander of Gaza City Brigade | ||
| 8 ♣ | Shadi Baroud | Deputy head of intelligence | Killed in October 2023.[18] | |
| 8 ♦ | Head of international relations office | |||
| 8 ♥ | Razi Abu Tama'ah | Head of the combat support array | Killed in March 2024.[19] | |
| 7 ♠ | Imad Akel | Head of rear headquarters | ||
| 7 ♣ | Deputy head of the West Bank region (successor of al-Arouri) | |||
| 7 ♦ | Abd al-Hadi Siam | Commander in the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades | ||
| 7 ♥ | Haitham Khuwajari | Commander of Shati Brigade (al-Qassam Brigades) | Killed in December 2023.[20] | |
| 6 ♠ | Ibrahim Biari | Commander of Jabalia center brigade | Killed in October 2023.[21] | |
| 6 ♣ | Wissam Farhat | Commander of Shuja'iyya brigade | Killed in December 2023.[22] | |
| 6 ♦ | Wael Rajab | Deputy commander of the northern Gaza Strip | Killed in November 2023.[23] | |
| 6 ♥ | Mohammed Shebana | Commander of the Rafah brigade | ||
| 5 ♠ | Nasim Abu Ajina | Commander of Beit Lahiya brigade | Killed in October 2023.[24] | |
| 5 ♣ | Ibrahim al-Sahar | Commander of the explosive devices in the northern Strip | Killed in October 2023.[25] | |
| 5 ♦ | Jaber Aziz | Commander of the Al-Furqan Battalion | Killed in August 2024.[26] | |
| 5 ♥ | Member of the executive committee | |||
| 4 ♠ | Taysir Mabasher | Commander of the northern Khan Yunis brigade | Killed in October 2023.[27] | |
| 4 ♣ | Mustafa Dalul | Commander of Zabara brigade | Killed in November 2023.[28] | |
| 4 ♦ | Head of office in the executive committee | |||
| 4 ♥ | Ra'ad Sa'ad | Commander in the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades | ||
| 3 ♠ | Yakub A'ashur | Commander of the anti-tank system in Khan Yunis | Killed in November 2023.[29] | |
| 3 ♣ | Ghazi Hamad | Member of Hamas's political bureau | ||
| 3 ♦ | Ismail Siraj | Commander of Nuseirat brigade | Killed in January 2024.[30] | |
| 3 ♥ | Ra'ad Thabat | Member of Hamas's political bureau | Killed in March 2024.[31] | |
| 2 ♠ | Madhat Mabasher | Commander of the West Khan Yunis brigade | Killed in October 2023.[32] | |
| 2 ♣ | Mahdi Khuwara | Commander of Lahiya Brigade | ||
| 2 ♦ | Mohammed Alwadia | Commander of the anti-tank system of the Gaza City Brigade (al-Qassam Brigades) | Killed in October 2023.[33] | |
| 2 ♥ | Nizar Awadallah | Senior member of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades |
A group of Christian Zionist "cowboys" who had come to volunteer on farms in Israel, and Israeli farms in the occupied West Bank, after the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, designed and printed another unofficial deck of playing cards with photos of the most wanted Hamas personalities and distributed the cards to Israeli soldiers in southern Israel and Gaza. The cards were designed and printed at Be'eri Printers at Kibbutz Be'eri, one of the hardest hit kibbutzim during the October 7 attack.[34]
The deck was printed in Hebrew, English, and Arabic, and included two joker cards and 12 Hamas personalities, including Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, Abu Obeida, Deif, Issa, al-Arouri, Mashal, Hamad, Sa'ad, Muhammad Sinwar. The depictions in these cards, from the drawings of the subjects to how their names were written in Arabic, are intended to mock the Hamas leaders. For example, Yahya Sinwar is written as Sinfar, a play on the Arabic word for mouse, Arabic: الْفَأْر, and his picture depicts him as a mouse. But most of the cowboys in the group the men seem to be a part of are English-speaking white men from the United States, not Arab Christians.[35]
They "coy boys" came to Israel and Palestine with an Evangelical organization organization called HaYovel Volunteering.[36] The organization is based in Patterson, Missouri, and particularly focused on recruiting volunteers to do farm work in Israeli settlements in the West Bank region of Palestine, while the usual farmers are fighting for the IDF in Gaza.[35] The volunteers and the Hoyovel organisation refer to the West Bank Region of Palestine as "Judea and Samaria" (the same name the Israeli settlers use) or "the biblical heartland" (their own words).[35]
They HoYovel organization had previously been involved in a West Bank "land grab" in 2022.[37]