PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz described Saad as 'one of the architects' of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The Israeli army said Saad was the head of the weapons production headquarters of Hamas's military wing.

Four people were killed and multiple passers-by injured in the strike, an official from Gaza's Hamas-run civil defence agency told the BBC.

Israel claims to have killed a top Hamas commander in Gaza, escalating tensions amid ongoing ceasefire violations.