Iranian report says leader of Handala hacker group was killed

An Iran-linked Telegram channel claimed that Yahya Hosseini Panjaki, identified as the commander of the Iranian hacker group Handala, was killed in an Israeli strike. The post, which has since been deleted, suggested he died in a targeted operation during Israel’s Operation “Roar of the Lion.”

The report comes after the IDF said in early March that it had killed Sayed Yahya Hamidi, Iran’s deputy intelligence minister for Israeli affairs, in the opening phase of the campaign on February 28, when several senior Iranian intelligence figures were reportedly eliminated. The article says Israeli and foreign outlets, including Iran International and The Times of Israel, reported that Hamidi was another name for Panjaki.

According to the new Telegram claim, the regime-linked channel first published a recent photo of Panjaki and then said he was killed in combat, before removing the post. The article treats the claim as an apparent Iranian confirmation, after Israel had already announced Panjaki’s elimination weeks earlier without an Iranian acknowledgment.

Handala is described as a well-known Iranian hacking group tied to the regime and active against Israeli targets. It has claimed hacks of Israeli websites, including the Academy of the Hebrew Language, and has sent threatening SMS messages and WhatsApp messages to Israelis, including attempts to recruit them and requests to share information about sites in Israel. Despite its publicity, the article says many of its claimed successes were exaggerated or fabricated, causing embarrassment more than real damage.