In brief
- Israel says it has killed the new head of Hamas' armed wing in Gaza.
- He has reportedly become the second Hamas commander to die in strikes in May.
Israel said on Wednesday it had killed the new head of Hamas's armed wing in Gaza, Mohammed Odeh, after killing his predecessor earlier this month despite an ongoing ceasefire.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said the "commander of the armed wing of the Hamas terrorist organisation in Gaza was eliminated yesterday and sent to meet his associates in the depths of hell".
In a joint statement, the Israeli military and the Shin Bet domestic security agency said Odeh had been appointed head of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades after the 15 May killing of Ezzedine al-Haddad.
A Hamas source told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency that Odeh's funeral had started in Gaza. The group has never officially announced him as head of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades.
He had long been the head of its intelligence service.
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"We committed ourselves to eliminating everyone who led the 7 October massacre, and that is what we will do: they are all marked for death, wherever they may be," Katz said in his post on X.
He also repeated Israel's goal of ending Hamas's rule over the Palestinian territory and alluded to a plan for the forced displacement of its residents.
"The plan for voluntary migration from Gaza will also be implemented — everything will be done at the right time and in the right way," he said.
The displacement of Gazans is a project backed by far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich. United States President Donald Trump previously expressed support for the idea before ditching it.
In February, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, denounced plans "aimed at making a permanent demographic change in Gaza".
In the aftermath of Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to target and eliminate the leaders behind it.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory response in Gaza has killed at least 72,803 people, according to the territory's health ministry.
Israel has previously killed Hamas's former political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, its Gaza chief who was widely regarded as the mastermind of the October 7 attack.
It also killed Mohammed Deif, the longtime commander of Hamas's armed wing, known as the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, as well as Mohammed Sinwar, who succeeded his brother Yahya Sinwar, as Gaza chief.
Israeli strikes have also targeted Hamas operatives in Lebanon and senior Iran-backed Hezbollah commanders allied with the group, including former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
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