Israel says it also killed Hamas' new military chief: 'We are committed to eliminating them all'
Israel said on Wednesday it had killed the alleged new leader of the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which was the target of an airstrike in Gaza on Tuesday, despite a ceasefire that was supposed to be in place since October, AFP reports.
“The commander of the armed wing of the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza was eliminated yesterday,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote in a message on the X social network.
In a joint statement, the Israeli military and Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, said Mohammed Odeh, who “served as the head of Hamas' military branch after the removal of Ezzedine al-Haddad” (on May 15, also in an Israeli strike), was killed during an “attack in the northern Gaza Strip.”
Mohammed Odeh long headed the intelligence services of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military branch of Hamas. His appointment to head the Brigades to succeed al-Haddad has not been officially announced or confirmed by the Palestinian Islamist movement.
Hamas did not respond to a France Presse question on the Israeli announcement this morning.
“We are committed to eliminating all those who led the October 7 massacre, and that is what we will do,” Israel Katz said, referring to the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel that triggered the ongoing war.
The minister added that Israel is determined to end Hamas' rule over the Gaza Strip.
“The voluntary migration plan from Gaza will also be implemented; everything will be done at the right time and in the right way,” Katz said, referring to a project to force Gaza residents to third countries, promoted by far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich and partially taken up by President Donald Trump before being abandoned.
In February, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk criticized Israel's “actions that appear to be aimed at bringing about a permanent demographic change in Gaza.”
