Hamas most wanted playing cards

Last updated April 02, 2024

The Hamas most wanted cards are decks of playing cards which include Hamas members wanted by the State of Israel.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Unofficial IDF deck

As part of the Israel–Hamas war, an unofficial^{[ further explanation needed ]} card deck of 54 wanted individuals were distributed to soldiers. The idea for the deck was inspired by the Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards created by the Defense Intelligence Agency with top wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The history of making such cards dates back to the American Civil War.^[1]^[4]^[5]^[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 January 17, 2024, 20 individuals from the list were killed (and the status of 4 more is unknown).^[1]

List of cards


Card	Person	Position
JOKER	Mohammed Deif	Head of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
JOKER	Salah al-Arouri	Deputy head of Hamas
A ♠	Abu Obeida	Spokesperson of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
A ♣	Marwan Issa	Deputy of Mohammed Deif
A ♦	Ismail Haniyeh	Head of Hamas Political Bureau
A ♥	Khaled Mashal	Former head of Hamas Political Bureau
K ♠	Issam al-Da'alis	Head of Hamas government in Gaza
K ♣	Rawhi Mushtaha [ ar ]	Chairman of the economic committee
K ♦	Khalil al-Hayya	Deputy head of Hamas's political bureau
K ♥	Asem Abu Rakaba	Head of the air wing
Q ♠	Samah al-Sarraj [ he ]	Member of Hamas's political bureau
Q ♣	Az al-Din Haddad	Commander of Gaza City Division (al-Qassam Brigades)
Q ♦	Iman Tziam	Head of the support array
Q ♥	Yahya Sinwar	Leader of Hamas in Gaza
J ♠	Mohammed Sinwar	Commander of the Southern Gaza Strip Division (al-Qassam Brigades)
J ♣	Ayman Nofal	Commander of the Central Gaza Strip
J ♦	Rafah Salama	Commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade (al-Qassam Brigades)
J ♥	Ahmad Ghandour	Commander of the northern Gaza Strip
10 ♠	Youssef Abu al-Rish	Deputy Health Minister
10 ♣	Fa'ez Baroud	Commander in al-Qassam Brigades
10 ♦	Osama Hamdan	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
9 ♦	Zakaria Abu Maamar	Senior member of Hamas's political bureau
9 ♥	Mahmoud al-Zahar	Member of Hamas Political Bureau
8 ♠	Ahmed Shamali	Deputy commander of Gaza City Brigade
8 ♣	Shadi Baroud	Deputy head of intelligence
8 ♦	Mousa Abu Marzook	Head of international relations office
8 ♥	Razi Abu Tama'ah	Head of the combat support array
7 ♠	Imad Akel	Head of rear headquarters
7 ♣	Zahar Jabarin [ he ]	Deputy head of the West Bank region (successor of al-Arouri)
7 ♦	Abd al-Hadi Tziam	Commander in the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades
7 ♥	Haitham Khuwajari	Commander of Shati Brigade (al-Qassam Brigades)
6 ♠	Ibrahim Biari	Commander of Jabalia center brigade
6 ♣	Wissam Farhat	Commander of Shuja'iyya brigade
6 ♦	Wael Rajab	Deputy commander of the northern Gaza Strip
6 ♥	Mohammed Shebana	Commander of the Rafah brigade
5 ♠	Nasim Abu Ajina	Commander of Beit Lahiya brigade
5 ♣	Ibrahim al-Sahar	Commander of the explosive devices in the northern Strip
5 ♦	Jaber Aziz	Commander of a brigade
5 ♥	Hassam Badran	Member of the executive committee
4 ♠	Taysir Mabasher	Commander of the northern Khan Yunis brigade
4 ♣	Mustafa Dalul	Commander of Zabara brigade
4 ♦	Fathi Hamad	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
3 ♣	Razi Hamad	Member of Hamas's political bureau
3 ♦	Ismail Siraj	Commander of Nuseirat brigade
3 ♥	Ra'ad Thabat	Member of Hamas's political bureau
2 ♠	Madhat Mabasher	Commander of the West Khan Yunis brigade
2 ♣	Mahdi Khuwara	Commander of Lahiya Brigade
2 ♦	Mohammed Alwadia	Commander of the anti-tank system of the Gaza City Brigade (al-Qassam Brigades)
2 ♥	Nizar Awadallah	Senior member of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades

Christian Cowboy unofficial deck

A group of Christians who had come to volunteer in Israel in the aftermath of 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.^[6]

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 "alfar" for mouse, and his picture depicts him as a mouse.^[6]

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References

1 2 3 אייכנר, איתמר (2023-12-02). "סינוואר - מלכה לב אדום: חפיסת הקלפים שנועדה "להוציא את בכירי חמאס מאיזון"". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-01-31.
↑ "קזינו סינוואר: קלפים עם תמונות בכירי חמאס והכתובת "מבוקש" באנגלית הופצו בקרב חיילי צה"ל | ישראל היום". www.israelhayom.co.il. 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
1 2 "From Iraq to Gaza! Israel puts photos of Hamas leaders on playing cards | Al Bawaba". www.albawaba.com. 3 December 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
↑ "תמונות של בכירי חמאס חולקו לחיילים בעזה". בחדרי חרדים (in Hebrew). 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
1 2 Merrill, Monique (2024-01-02). "Israel Has Playing Cards for Each of Its 52 Most-Wanted Hamas Terrorists". The Messenger . Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
1 2 Jaffe-Hoffman, Maayan (2023-11-30). "Christian cowboys give most wanted Hamas terrorists playing cards to IDF". Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 14 February 2024.

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 אייכנר, איתמר (2023-12-02). "סינוואר - מלכה לב אדום: חפיסת הקלפים שנועדה "להוציא את בכירי חמאס מאיזון"". Ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-01-31.

[2] "קזינו סינוואר: קלפים עם תמונות בכירי חמאס והכתובת "מבוקש" באנגלית הופצו בקרב חיילי צה"ל | ישראל היום". www.israelhayom.co.il. 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2024-01-31.

[albawba-3] 1 2 "From Iraq to Gaza! Israel puts photos of Hamas leaders on playing cards | Al Bawaba". www.albawaba.com. 3 December 2023. Retrieved 2024-02-14.

[4] "תמונות של בכירי חמאס חולקו לחיילים בעזה". בחדרי חרדים (in Hebrew). 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2024-01-31.

[MessengerMerrill-5] 1 2 Merrill, Monique (2024-01-02). "Israel Has Playing Cards for Each of Its 52 Most-Wanted Hamas Terrorists". The Messenger . Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.

[Cowboys-6] 1 2 Jaffe-Hoffman, Maayan (2023-11-30). "Christian cowboys give most wanted Hamas terrorists playing cards to IDF". Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 14 February 2024.

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