Israel said Wednesday it killed the newly appointed head of Hamas’ military wing, Qassam Brigades, in Gaza City, marking another high-profile strike in its sustained campaign to dismantle the group’s leadership amid the ongoing war and an increasingly fragile ceasefire environment.
Israeli officials said airstrikes carried out Tuesday in western Gaza City killed Mohammed Odeh, who had reportedly assumed command of Hamas’ armed wing only days earlier following the killing of his predecessor, Ezzedine al-Haddad, on May 16.
Defense Minister Israel Katz and the Israeli military said Odeh played a central role in Hamas’ military structure and was linked to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that triggered the war.
The Israeli military, working alongside the Shin Bet internal security agency, said the operation was based on intelligence confirming Odeh’s presence at the strike site.
Katz described him as a senior architect of Hamas’ military operations and said Israel has now eliminated multiple successive heads of the group’s armed wing since the start of the war.
