Jerusalem: Israel said Wednesday it killed a Hamas commander, Mohammed Odeh, whom it identified as the new head of Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the commander of Hamas’s armed wing was killed on Tuesday. The Israeli military and Shin Bet domestic security agency said Odeh had led the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades after the May 15 killing of Ezzedine al-Haddad.
Hamas did not immediately respond after the Israeli announcement. The group had not officially confirmed Odeh as the brigade’s head.
Odeh had long led Hamas’s intelligence service. Israel said the killing was part of its campaign against those it says led the October 7, 2023, attack.
Katz said on X that Israel remained committed to eliminating everyone who led the October 7 attack. He also repeated Israel’s goal of ending Hamas rule in Gaza.
The statement came despite an ongoing ceasefire. Katz also referred to a plan for what he called “voluntary migration” from Gaza, a proposal backed by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
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United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk denounced such plans in February, warning against efforts aimed at permanent demographic change in Gaza.
AFP reported that the October 7 attack killed 1,221 people, citing official Israeli figures. Gaza’s health ministry said Israel’s campaign in the territory has killed at least 72,803 people.
