Direct proof of use
The Mutabar-1 is documented in the 2023 Israel-Hamas War through Al-Qassam Brigades' own October 2023 activation claim and subsequent conflict reporting. Xinhua reported on October 9, 2023 that Al-Qassam Brigades said it had introduced the homegrown Metbar 1 air-defense system into Operation Al-Aqsa Flood to confront Israeli aircraft, and that a short brigade video showed masked members launching missiles with the system.
On October 13, 2023, the Institute for the Study of War reported that CTP-ISW recorded Al-Qassam Brigades launching a Mutabar 1 air-defense missile at an Israeli drone over Gaza. That report directly ties the system to a specific air-defense engagement claim in the war, while noting that CTP-ISW could not independently verify the impact of the recorded rocket and missile launches.
Sources: Xinhua Mutabar-1 activation report, ISW Iran Update, October 13, 2023
Timeline
The public record begins in the first week of the war. Hamas and other Gaza-based armed groups launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, and Al-Qassam Brigades presented Mutabar-1 two days later as a Gaza-made air-defense system.
The next dated direct-use report in the cataloged source set is October 13, 2023, when CTP-ISW recorded a Mutabar-1 missile fired at an Israeli drone over Gaza. Later defense reporting treated the October 2023 reveal as the system's first public introduction and described the launcher as a compact single-launcher platform with 360-degree traverse and 20-to-70-degree elevation.
Sources: Xinhua Mutabar-1 activation report, ISW Iran Update, October 13, 2023, Army Recognition Hamas drone and missile facility report
Narrative
Mutabar-1 appears in the war as an improvised short-range air-defense weapon for Hamas and Gaza-based armed groups rather than as a conventional state-supplied surface-to-air missile system. The reported role was defensive and counter-air: confronting Israeli aircraft and, in the CTP-ISW incident record, firing at an Israeli drone over Gaza.
The available sources separate the system's presentation from confirmed battle damage. Xinhua documents the brigade statement and launch-video release, and ISW documents a later firing report, but neither source establishes that the missile destroyed or damaged an aircraft. Army Recognition's later description adds that Mutabar-1 uses rockets or missiles with an undisclosed guidance system and a lightweight single launcher, which fits the public record of a locally made, low-footprint system.
Sources: Xinhua Mutabar-1 activation report, ISW Iran Update, October 13, 2023, Army Recognition Hamas drone and missile facility report
