SUCCESSOR

Osama Bin Laden’s Son Is Dead, U.S. Officials Say

Hamza was the potential successor of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Hamza bin Laden, the son and believed successor of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is dead, according to U.S. officials cited by The New York Times. A “strike” is said to have killed him during the first two years of the Trump administration. The U.S. government played a role in the strike that killed bin Laden, but it is not clear in what capacity, according to the Times. He was killed before the State Department put out a $1 million reward for information on his whereabouts in February. During that point in time, U.S. intelligence agencies and the military reportedly had not confirmed his death. After Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden at his Pakistan compound in 2011, letters were found at the compound that he was grooming his son to become a leader of al Qaeda. His son last made a public address through al Qaeda’s media outlet in 2018. In the address, Hamza threatened Saudi Arabia and called “on the people of the Arabian Peninsula to revolt,” according to the United Nations Security Council.