The Israeli military said on Saturday that senior Hamas commander Raed Saed was killed in a strike on a car in Gaza City, though Hamas and medics have not immediately confirmed his death.
Gaza health authorities said the attack killed five people and wounded at least 25 others. In a joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said they ordered Saed’s killing in response to the activation of a Hamas explosive device that wounded Israeli forces earlier in the day.
The Israeli military described Saed as one of the architects of the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, adding that two reserve soldiers were lightly injured when the device detonated during an operation in southern Gaza. An Israeli defence official said Saed headed Hamas’s weapons manufacturing force, while Hamas sources have described him as the second-in-command of the group’s armed wing and a former leader of its powerful Gaza City battalion.
If confirmed, Saed’s death would mark the most significant assassination of a senior Hamas figure since a ceasefire came into effect on 10 October, which has allowed aid flows to increase and displaced Palestinians to return to Gaza City. Despite the truce, violence has continued, with Palestinian health authorities reporting at least 386 deaths in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire, while Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed during the same period.
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