Israel says it killed Hamas’ new armed wing chief in Gaza

Israel says it has killed Hamas’s newly installed armed wing commander in Gaza, only days after killing his predecessor, as it ramps up military pressure in the enclave and broadens its campaign in Lebanon.

The Israeli military said Mohammad Odeh was killed in an operation in Gaza tomorrow.

Hamas has not issued an official statement, though a message from Odeh’s family said he was killed alongside his wife and son.

Gaza health officials said six people were killed in the same Israeli strike, including at least one woman, and that more than 20 others were wounded when the upper floor of an apartment building in Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood was destroyed.

People close to Hamas stopped short of confirming Odeh’s appointment as the movement’s new military chief, but said he had been regarded as a likely successor to Haddad, serving as the group’s head of military intelligence and possibly as the last surviving member of the armed wing’s senior leadership council.

Hours before the strike, Israel said it had widened its ground operations in Lebanon, where it has been battling Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters since launching attacks on Iran with the United States at the end of February. Israel is also stepping up military operations in the West Bank.

Crowds gather at the site of the Israeli strike in which Mohammed Odeh was believed to have been killed

Israel and Hamas remain stuck in indirect negotiations over how to carry out the second phase of a ceasefire agreement, including Hamas’s disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The ceasefire reached in October left Israel controlling more than half of Gaza, while Hamas retained a sliver of coastal territory.

In a statement, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hamas would no longer hold either civilian or military power in Gaza, and said a plan for what he called “voluntary migration” from the enclave would be carried out “at the right time and in the right way”.

Since the truce took effect, about 900 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza health officials, whose figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Over the same period, four Israeli soldiers have been killed, the Israeli military said.

Since the Gaza war began, Israel has killed dozens of Hamas leaders and military officials and has pledged to kill or capture anyone it says took part in the 2023 attacks.

Hamas does not publish casualty figures for its fighters. Israel says its strikes since the ceasefire are intended to prevent attacks or to stop people approaching its armistice line with Hamas.

More than 72,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the war began in October 2023, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities. Israel says it takes extraordinary steps to avoid civilian casualties.

Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

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