New Hamas Military Chief Killed in Gaza Strike

Israel has killed Muhammad Odeh, the new head of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza, in an attack in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, according to the Times of Israel.

Odeh had taken over only days earlier after the death of his predecessor, Izz al-Din al-Haddad. Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency said Tuesday’s strike killed at least three people and wounded about 20.

Hamas-affiliated Gaza media later reported that Odeh had been killed alongside his wife and sons. Hamas did not immediately issue an official comment.

Katz confirmed Odeh’s death on Wednesday morning and praised the Israeli military and Shin Bet for what he called their “brilliant execution”. “We pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre, and that is what we will do”, Katz wrote on X. “They are all marked for death, everywhere.”

According to the Israeli government, Odeh was the organization’s intelligence chief at the time of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and became the new commander of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza last week. Al-Haddad was killed in a similar Israeli strike on 15 May.

The Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Odeh had been one of al-Haddad’s close associates and had helped rebuild Hamas’s structures after the deaths of several senior commanders, including Muhammad Deif and Muhammad Sinwar.

(max)