IDF reveals extravagant meals enjoyed by Hamas commanders while Gazans were reported to be starving

IDF Arabic Spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee revealed in a post to social media Thursday that Hamas Rafah Brigade commander Muhammad Shabana, in the weeks before his death, enjoyed lavish meals in the tunnel complex he shared with Mohammed Sinwar under the European Hospital in Khan Younis. 

“Luxurious breakfast and lavish meals during the war: This is what the life of the terrorist commander of Hamas' Rafah Brigade looked like over the past year,” Adraee posted in Arabic. 

Adraee said that the images were found by the IDF at Hamas' command headquarters under the hospital. 

#خاص 🔴 إفطار فاخر ووجبات فخمة خلال الحرب: هكذا كانت تبدو حياة الارهابي قائد لواء رفح في حماس خلال السنة الماضية

⭕️يكشف جيش الدفاع صورًا تُظهر كمية الطعام الكبيرة التي كانت بحوزة قائد لواء رفح المدعو محمد شبانة الذي تمت تصفيته مع المدعو محمد السنوار تحت المستشفى الأوروبي في شهر… pic.twitter.com/PdOSN3B0pE

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) September 4, 2025

The Arabic spokesman noted the significant contrast between the abundant supply of food seen in the pictures, and the lack of food experienced by many in Gaza at the time. 

“While the residents of the sector were forced to break their Ramadan fast with the crumbs left by Hamas, the organization's leaders were celebrating in the tunnels with a grand feast,” Adraee wrote to 𝕏. 

The pictures show a variety of foods, including grilled meat, sausages, french fries, flatbreads, falafel, fish, cheese, and vegetables, including one picture of the food being grilled in the tunnels. 

The pictures provide supporting evidence of the IDF’s claims that Hamas fighters have plenty of food in the tunnels, even while food scarcity occurred in several areas of the Gaza Strip at that time. 

“With one hand, Hamas runs a media campaign about ‘starvation’ in the sector, and with the other, it plunders food to feed its leaders and their families,” Adraee continued. “Time and again – the images, unlike Hamas and its mouthpieces in the media, do not lie.” 

Shabana took over the command of the Rafah Brigade during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, after three previous commanders were killed. He had oversight of four different battalions, including the elite Nukhba unit which spearheaded the Oct. 7 massacres. 

Shabana himself also survived several assassination attempts, including during the war, before he was finally taken out during the May 13 strike which targeted Mohammed Sinwar.