Israel claims head of Hamas military wing killed in Gaza strike

Israel says it has killed Mohammed Odeh, the leader of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza, in an air strike in the northern part of the strip, as a fragile “ceasefire” comes under growing strain.

Israeli authorities said on Wednesday that Odeh was killed in an attack the previous day in Gaza City.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian group.

Odeh, a former Hamas intelligence chief, reportedly succeeded Izz al-Din al-Haddad as the head of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian group, after the latter was killed in an Israeli strike earlier this month, although Hamas did not officially confirm the appointment.

“The commander of Hamas terror organisation’s military arm number 4 in Gaza was eliminated yesterday and sent to meet his partners in the depths of hell,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Wednesday.

Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Israeli forces had targeted Odeh in an attack.

In a statement, the Israeli army also confirmed the killing of Odeh and said the attack “followed months of intelligence monitoring aimed at tracking the movements of Odeh and his operatives”.

A source at al-Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera that six people were killed and 20 others wounded in Israeli attacks late on Tuesday on the Remal neighbourhood in the western part of Gaza City.

Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said there was “a lot of destruction” after the attack targeted a busy neighbourhood of the city.

“Yesterday at about 9:30pm (19:30 GMT) three large explosions took place in Gaza City. The attack was in the middle of Remal, an area filled with markets and a lot of shops. Muslims were shopping, getting ready for the Eid holiday when the airstrike took place.

Israel targets Hamas leaders

The Israeli military statement further claimed that Odeh was responsible for “planning and coordinating Hamas terrorists’ infiltration and attack targets during the October 7 massacre,” referring to the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel in 2023.

“Odeh is one of the last senior commanders in Hamas’ military wing who took part in the planning and execution of the October 7 massacre and the management of combat operations against IDF troops,” the Israeli army noted.

Israel responded to the October 7 attack by launching a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, killing more than 72,800 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

During the war, the Israeli military has killed several senior Hamas officials, including former political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, the head of the group in Gaza.

It also killed Mohammed Deif, the longtime commander of Hamas’s armed wing, as well as Mohammed Sinwar, who had succeeded his brother Yahya Sinwar.