By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: Israel on Wednesday said it had killed Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed chief of Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza, in an airstrike carried out a day earlier as it intensified operations against the group’s top leadership.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced the development, describing the operation as part of Israel’s continuing campaign to eliminate those linked to the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
“In the Prime Minister’s name and in my own, congratulations to the IDF and the Shin Bet on the brilliant execution,” Katz said 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,” he added.
Hamas had not officially commented on the Israeli claim at the time of reporting.
According to a joint statement issued earlier by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz, Odeh had been appointed around a week ago as successor to Ezzedine al-Haddad, another senior Hamas commander who was killed in an Israeli strike on May 15.
Israeli authorities alleged that Odeh had served as head of Hamas intelligence during the October 7 attack and accused him of involvement in the killing, abduction and injury of Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Israel has repeatedly stated that it is targeting individuals linked to the October 7 assault, which killed 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Since the war began, Israel has carried out a sustained campaign targeting Hamas’s military and political leadership in Gaza and elsewhere in the region.
Among those killed are former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, longtime commander of Hamas’s armed wing Mohammed Deif and Mohammed Sinwar, who succeeded his brother Yahya Sinwar as Hamas’s Gaza chief.
Israeli strikes have also targeted Hamas operatives in Lebanon and senior commanders of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, including former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian toll of the conflict in Gaza has continued to rise sharply.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority, at least 72,803 people have been killed in the territory since the beginning of Israel’s military campaign.
The war has displaced large sections of Gaza’s population and devastated civilian infrastructure, prompting growing international concern over the humanitarian situation in the enclave.