Israel yesterday said that it had killed Mohammad Odeh, Hamas’ newly appointed armed wing chief, in Gaza, days after it killed his predecessor, while intensifying military pressure in Gaza and expanding operations in Lebanon.
The Israeli military said that Odeh was killed in an operation in Gaza on Tuesday.
A relative of Odeh confirmed his death to reporters and said that the funeral would take place after noon prayers in Gaza City.
Photo: AFP
Hamas had not issued an official statement, but a statement from his family said he was killed along with his wife and son.
Gaza health officials said six people, including at least one woman, were killed, while more than 20 others were wounded in the same Israeli strike that destroyed an upper floor of an apartment building in the Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City.
Rescue workers were still at the scene looking for more possible casualties.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said that Odeh had headed Hamas’ intelligence division at the time of the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack into Israel that triggered the Gaza war and was appointed about a week ago to replace Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the group’s chief armed commander, who was killed by Israel on May 15.
Sources close to Hamas did not confirm Odeh’s appointment as the new military chief, but agreed he was seen as al-Haddad’s possible successor, as the group’s chief of military intelligence and possibly the last remaining living member of the armed wing’s leadership council.
Hours before the attack, Israel announced that it had expanded ground operations in Lebanon, where it has been fighting Hezbollah militants since it launched attacks on Iran with the US at the end of February.
Israel is also intensifying its military activities in the West Bank.
Israel and Hamas are deadlocked in indirect talks over implementing the second phase of a ceasefire deal, which includes the group’s disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals.
The ceasefire agreed in October last year left Israel in control of more than half of Gaza, with Hamas controlling a sliver of coastal territory.
Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said in a statement that Hamas would no longer exercise civilian or military control over Gaza, and that a plan for what he described as “voluntary migration” from the enclave would also be implemented “at the right time and in the right way.”
Israel has killed dozens of Hamas leaders and military officials since the start of the Gaza war, and has vowed to kill or capture anyone who it says was involved in the attacks in 2023.
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