‘Israeli’ official confirms new Hamas armed wing chief killed in strike: Hebrew media

Hebrew media reported that initial ‘Israeli’ assessments indicate that a strike on Hamas’ newly appointed military chief Mohammed Odeh was successful.

‘Israel’s’ Public Broadcaster Kan, citing an official, confirmed that Odeh was killed in the strike.

Hamas has not issued a statement yet on the strike, and ‘Israel’ has not yet commented on the reports by Hebrew media.

‘Israel’ announced earlier on Tuesday that it had targeted in the Gaza Strip the new commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, who was recently appointed after the killing of his predecessor.

A joint statement by ‘Israeli’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the ‘Israeli’ military “carried out a strike in Gaza today (Tuesday) targeting Mohammed Odeh, the new commander of the terrorist organization Hamas’ military wing and one of the architects of the October 7 massacre,” without clarifying whether the target had been killed.

The statement added: “He was appointed around a week ago to replace Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who was killed in a strike on May 15.”

A security source in Gaza told AFP that western Gaza City had come under heavy ‘Israeli’ bombardment, noting that there was “no information available regarding the target.”

The source added: “The scale and intensity of the attack fueled speculation that the target was commander Mohammed Odeh, who succeeded the martyred commander Izz al-Din al-Haddad in leading the Qassam Brigades in the Gaza Strip.”

Gaza’s Civil Defense agency said three people, including a woman, were killed and at least 20 others wounded in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.

Netanyahu and Katz said: “We will continue pursuing everyone who took part in the October 7 massacre. Sooner or later, Israel will reach them all.”