Hamas on Wednesday confirmed the killing of Mohammed Odeh, the chief of the group’s military wing in Gaza, in an Israeli air strike in the northern part of the region.
The group released a statement on Wednesday, confirming that the Israeli army killed Odeh, his wife, and two sons in a strike that targeted a residential building the previous day.
Odeh, a former Hamas intelligence chief, had reportedly succeeded Izz al-Din al-Haddad as the head of the Qassam Brigades, which is the armed wing of the Palestinian group.
Al-Haddad was killed in an air strike earlier in May. However, Hamas did not officially confirm the appointment.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Wednesday, “The commander of Hamas terror organisation’s military arm number 4 in Gaza was eliminated yesterday and sent to meet his partners in the depths of hell.”
Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said the Israeli army had targeted Odeh in an attack.
The Israeli forces said in a statement that the attack “followed months of intelligence monitoring aimed at tracking the movements of Odeh and his operatives”.
The statement also added that Odeh was responsible for “planning and coordinating Hamas terrorists’ infiltration and attack targets during the October 7 massacre”.
According to Al Jazeera, citing a source at al-Shifa Hospital, six people were killed and 20 were wounded in Israeli air strikes late Tuesday on the Remal neighbourhood in the western part of Gaza City.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said the attack targeted a busy neighbourhood as residents were preparing for the Eid al-Adha holiday.
“Yesterday at about 9.30 pm [19:30 GMT] three large explosions took place in Gaza City. The attack was in the middle of Remal, an area filled with markets and a lot of shops,” she said “Muslims were shopping, getting ready for the Eid holiday, when the air strike took place.”
