Israel says strike killed new chief of Hamas armed wing in Gaza

Israel said on Wednesday it had killed the new head of Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza, Mohammed Odeh, in a strike the day before, after killing his predecessor in a similar attack earlier this month.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the “commander of the armed wing of the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza was eliminated yesterday and sent to meet his associates in the depths of hell.”

Hamas hasn’t commented yet.

“In the Prime Minister’s name and in my own, congratulations to the IDF and the Shin Bet on the brilliant execution,” Katz said.

“We committed ourselves to eliminating everyone who led the October 7 massacre, and that is what we will do: They are all marked for death, wherever they may be.”

Katz and Netanyahu said in the joint statement that Odeh had “served as head of Hamas intelligence during the October 7 massacre and was appointed approximately one week ago as successor to Ezzedine al-Haddad.”

Haddad was killed by an Israeli strike on May 15.

The Israel Defense Forces said at the time that Haddad helped plan the Oct. 7 attacks and “was involved in the holding of many Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity” amid the war in Gaza and “surrounded himself with hostages to prevent his elimination.”    

Katz and Netanyahu said “Odeh was responsible for the murder, abduction and injury of numerous Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.”

In the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Netanyahu pledged to target and eliminate the leaders behind it.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory response in Gaza has killed at least 72,803 people, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel has previously killed Hamas’s former political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, its Gaza chief who was widely regarded as the mastermind of the October 7 attack.

It also killed Mohammed Deif, the longtime commander of Hamas’s armed wing, known as the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, as well as Mohammed Sinwar, who succeeded his brother Yahya Sinwar, as Gaza chief

Israeli strikes have also targeted Hamas operatives in Lebanon and senior Iran-backed Hezbollah commanders allied with the group, including former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.