Israel Targets New Hamas Military Wing Chief in Strike

Israel has targeted the new head of Hamas’s armed wing in a strike in Gaza on Tuesday, carried out days after his predecessor was killed in a similar attack. “A joint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Katz stated that the IDF recently conducted a strike in Gaza targeting Mohammed Odeh — the new commander of Hamas’s terrorist military wing and one of the architects of the October 7 massacre,” reported by AFP on Wednesday, 27 May 2026. Odeh was appointed head of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigade following the death of his predecessor, Ezzedine Al-Haddad, in a Gaza strike in early May. Gaza’s civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas, reported that a woman was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rimal neighbourhood of western Gaza City. “Odeh served as Hamas’s intelligence chief during the October 7 massacre and was appointed approximately a week ago to replace Ezzedine Al-Haddad,” the Netanyahu and Katz statement continued. “Odeh is responsible for the killing, abduction, and injury of numerous Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” it added. Following the October 7 attack, Netanyahu pledged to target and eliminate those behind the assault, which, according to AFP’s calculations based on official Israeli figures, resulted in 1,221 deaths. Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Gaza have killed at least 72,803 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures reliable. Since Hamas’s cross-border attack, Israeli military and intelligence agencies have launched a campaign targeting senior Hamas political leaders and militant commanders in Gaza and across the region. During the war sparked by Hamas’s attack, Israel has claimed responsibility for killing several Hamas leaders, including the group’s former political chief, Ismail Haniyeh. Israeli forces also killed Yahya Sinwar, widely regarded as the mastermind behind the October 7 attack. Mohammed Deif, the long-serving commander of Hamas’s armed wing and considered the architect of the attack, was also killed during the conflict. Israeli strikes have also targeted Hamas agents in Lebanon, as well as senior commanders of Iran-backed Hezbollah, which allies with the group, including former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.