Israel claims it killed new Hamas armed wing chief in Gaza strike

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 this month.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed the “commander of the armed wing of the Hamas terrorist organisation in Gaza was eliminated yesterday”.

Hamas has not yet commented.

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

“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.”

After announcing the strike on Tuesday, Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a 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.

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

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

Israel’s invasion of Gaza has killed at least 72,803 people, according to the territory’s 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.