Did Israeli sniper nicknamed 'Angel of Death' die in Gaza? Analyzing the claim

In early September 2025, a claim (archived) circulated online that a man allegedly named Netan Yanas, a supposed Israeli sniper known as the "Angel of Death," died in battle in the Gaza Strip. 

One X user wrote, "Netan Yanas nicknamed the 'Angel of Death' with a 98% hit rate was killed in a Rafah bomb trap yesterday. His infamous specialty was shooting children and teenagers in the abdomen so they'd die slowly, targeting medics rushing to help, and even taking aim at journalists."

(X user @MoonRos)

The claim also circulated on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and Bluesky (archived). Snopes readers wrote in, asking if the claim was true.

However, we found no credible reports in Hebrew or English that Netan Yanas was a real person, nor that he died in combat in Gaza. The Israeli government's official list of armed forces casualties in the war in Gaza did not include Yanas' name after an update on Sept. 1, 2025, the date social media posts said he died. That update included a disclaimer noting the list was current up to "Monday, 1st September 2025, 1:00 PM Israel time," meaning any casualties that occurred later that day would not be included.

We've reached out to the Israeli military to ask if it had any record of a casualty with Yanas' name and will update this story if and when we hear more.

The claim circulated alongside a picture that first appeared in a 2024 Facebook post (archived) about an injured Israeli army soldier appealing for help to compete in a triathlon. According to that post, the man in the photo was Idan Gurion and was injured while serving with the Israeli army's Golani Brigade. It was unclear at the time of this writing whether Gurion was a sniper or whether he returned to service after his injury. Gurion's name did not appear on the Israeli government casualty list.

We also reached out Channel 12, an Israeli news channel that some claims said originally reported the news about Yanas, to ask if it could confirm whether the rumor was true. We could not find the claimed Channel 12 report about Yanas' death. We also reached out to Gurion to establish whether he used the name Netan Yanas. We await replies to our queries.

Hanoch Daum, an Israeli author and comedian, posted the image of Gurion that circulated in September 2025 almost a year earlier, in August 2024.

Daum's post included a message, allegedly from Gurion, in which Gurion identified himself as a soldier from the Israeli army's Golani Brigade who was injured when a car bomb struck his patrol. According to the post, Gurion wanted to compete in a triathlon in Eilat, Israel, in January 2025 but needed a road bike. The Israman Challenge triathlon took place in Eilat in January 2025 but did not list Idan Gurion or Netan Yanas in the race results.

We reached out to Daum to ask if he knew whether Gurion had participated in a triathlon, gone back into service or could potentially be Netan Yanas and await a reply.

Non-governmental organizations, the United Nations, journalist federations and medical professionals have accused Israeli forces, including snipers, of targeting children and media workers during the war in Gaza. The Israeli army and Israeli government have repeatedly said they do not target civilians or journalists.

Google Translate and Doitinhebrew.com provided translations from Hebrew to English.