Rushdi Abualouf,Correspondent in Gaza, IstanbulAnd
Ian Aikman
Israel says it killed Hamas military wing commander Mohammed Odeh in a strike in Gaza on Tuesday, days after his predecessor was killed in a similar attack.
At least three Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured in Tuesday’s major attack, which hit a residential building in one of Gaza City’s busiest neighborhoods, local doctors and witnesses said.
The Israeli military and Shin Bet security services said the buildings that served as Odeh’s hideout were targeted after his movements were tracked for several months. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
It is the latest deadly Israeli strike against Gaza despite a ceasefire with Hamas in force in October.
The strike hit the upper three floors of the al-Kayali building in central Gaza City, where the streets were crowded with shoppers in the run-up to the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
A statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet said: “As part of the joint IDF-Shin Bet operation to eliminate terrorist Mohammed Odeh, several buildings in the heart of Gaza City that served as his hideout were attacked, following months of intelligence surveillance to track his movements and those of his aides within the organization.
They added that they also struck “a nearby apartment belonging to a Hamas terrorist who attacked on October 7 and who was part of Odeh’s circle of aides,” referring to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that sparked the Gaza war.
Rescue teams rushed to the scene of the strikes but struggled to reach upper floors due to the scale of the damage and congestion in the area.
Witnesses said at least five missiles hit the building almost simultaneously from different directions.
One resident said he heard the sound of a helicopter flying over the town before the attack.
Footage from the scene showed ambulances and civil protection teams searching the damaged building as crowds gathered nearby.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday that Odeh was “one of the architects of the October 7 massacre.”
“Odeh is responsible for the murder, kidnapping and injury of numerous Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers,” the statement continued.
This attack also targeted a residential building and killed at least three people, according to eyewitnesses and a local source.
Israel has regularly carried out strikes across Gaza since the ceasefire began on October 10.
Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire and attacking civilians. The Hamas-run Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry reported the deaths of more than 900 people in Israeli strikes during the ceasefire.
The Israeli government maintains that it has the right to target Hamas members and in turn accuses Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement by not disarming.
The last phases of a US-led peace plan for Gaza have not yet come into force, with progress stalling since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran in February.
The United States announced the start of the second phase of the plan in January, with governance of Gaza assumed by a transitional technocratic administration alongside the demilitarization and reconstruction of the territory.
In his statement, Netanyahu said Israel would “continue to pursue anyone who participated in the October 7 massacre,” adding: “Sooner or later, Israel will reach them all.”
Around 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led attack and 251 others were taken hostage.
Israel responded by launching a massive military campaign in Gaza, which reduced much of the Palestinian territory to rubble and displaced many of its 2.1 million residents.
Israeli forces have killed more than 72,800 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.