Hamas has confirmed the death of its armed wing chief, Mohammad Odeh, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City, according to the Israeli military and Gaza health officials.
Odeh was killed on Tuesday night (26 May) in what Israel described as a targeted operation. Gaza health officials and his family said the strike hit an apartment building in the Rimal district, also killing his wife and son.
Dozens of Palestinians carried Odeh’s body through the streets of Gaza City on Wednesday in a funeral procession that passed through heavily damaged neighbourhoods still scarred by months of fighting.
His body, along with those of his wife and son, was carried through streets lined with bombed-out buildings as mourners gathered to pay their respects.
The Israeli military said Odeh was a senior Hamas figure involved in the group’s intelligence structure and was killed in a precision strike.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Odeh had led Hamas’ intelligence division during the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel and had recently been appointed to replace a senior commander killed earlier this month.
Just over a week before Odeh’s death, his predecessor, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, was also killed in an Israeli strike as part of Israel’s continued campaign against Hamas leadership.
Sources close to Hamas said Odeh may have been the last remaining senior member of the group’s armed wing leadership council.
Gaza health officials said the strike that killed Odeh, his wife and son also killed at least three other people and wounded more than 20. Rescue teams continued searching through rubble on Wednesday.
At the funeral, a relative, Abu al-Abd Odeh, said the killing would not end Palestinian resistance.
“This journey will not stop and the struggle of the Palestinian people will continue on all levels,” he said at a mosque in Gaza City.
Israel has said its operations are aimed at Hamas commanders involved in the 7 October attacks and at preventing further threats.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hamas would no longer control Gaza and suggested that plans for what he called “voluntary migration” could be implemented “at the right time and in the right way”.
Palestinians and rights groups have rejected such proposals, viewing them as forced displacement.
Since the ceasefire in October, Gaza health authorities say around 900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, while Israel says four of its soldiers have died in the same period.
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the ceasefire remain stalled, including proposals on Hamas disarmament and Israeli troop withdrawals.
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