Hamas’s armed wing on Wednesday confirmed that its military chief, Mohammed Odeh, was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza a day earlier, after Israel had announced his death on Tuesday.
In a statement identifying him as the “Chief of Staff of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades”, Hamas’s armed wing said Odeh died “on Tuesday evening... in a cowardly assassination operation that resulted in the martyrdom of him, his wife and his children”, as quoted by AFP.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the Israeli military had “eliminated” Odeh in Gaza. Israel described him as the new leader of Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, and accused him of being among the planners of the October 7 attack on Israel.
According to the statement, Odeh had served as head of Hamas intelligence during the October 7 assault and was appointed around a week ago as successor to Ezzedine Al-Haddad, who Israel said was killed in an earlier strike in Gaza.
Israel has continued targeting senior Hamas leaders and commanders since the October 7, 2023 attack. Among those previously killed were Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and longtime Al-Qassam commander Mohammed Deif, according to Israeli and international reports.
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