According to a report published by the Israeli news agency C14, Yahya Hosseini Panjaki (also known as Seyed Yahya Hamidi) the leader of the Handala hack group – one of the most active and dangerous hacker groups that has targeted Israel and the US – was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike.

A Telegram channel affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization (IRGC IO) has confirmed that Panjaki was the Commander of the Handala Cyber Unit and has published a photo of him taken before the war. This is the first time that it has been publicly announced that Panjaki was responsible for the group, and the report states that Panjaki was killed in early March during the initial Israeli strikes on Iran.

Since the start of the war, Handala’s activities have increased significantly, and they have been responsible for breaching the phones of senior Israeli officers including former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and IDF Chief of Staff Hervi Halevi.

Panjaki’s death is considered a major blow to Iran’s cyber capabilities, and it is unclear who will take his place.