Israel Kills Hamas's New Military Wing Chief in Gaza
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- Israel's military killed Mohammad Odeh, Hamas's newly appointed armed wing chief, in a targeted strike on the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City on Tuesday night, exactly days after his predecessor Izz al-Din al-Haddad was killed on May 15.
- Odeh's family said the same strike killed his wife and son, while Gaza health officials reported a total of six dead — including at least one woman — and more than 20 wounded, with rescue workers digging through rubble of the destroyed apartment building's upper floor.
- Sources close to Hamas said Odeh was possibly the last remaining living member of Hamas's armed wing higher leadership council, a pattern underscored by his cousin Ahmed Odeh, who invoked the names of other dead commanders: 'If it had ended, it would have ended with Abu Khaled.'
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Odeh had headed Hamas's intelligence division at the time of the Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack and was appointed roughly a week ago to replace Haddad as the group's chief armed commander.
- Gaza health officials estimate roughly 900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the October ceasefire took effect, with their tallies not distinguishing between combatants and civilians.
- Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in indirect talks over the second phase of the ceasefire deal, which includes Hamas disarmament and further Israeli army withdrawals; the October truce left Israel controlling more than half of Gaza.
- Defence Minister Israel Katz declared Hamas would no longer exercise civilian or military control over Gaza and said a plan for 'voluntary migration' from the enclave would be implemented 'at the right time and in the right way.'
Why it matters: With Odeh possibly the last senior Hamas armed-wing leader alive, Israel is methodically decapitating the group's military command even as ceasefire negotiations stall. The roughly 900 Palestinian deaths Gaza health officials have logged since the truce began expose the widening gap between the diplomatic label 'ceasefire' and daily reality — and Katz's 'voluntary migration' rhetoric signals Israel is already planning a post-Hamas Gaza.
