Israel Kills Hamas’ New Military Chief in Gaza Strike, Vows to Hunt Down Oct. 7 Architects

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – Israel said Wednesday it killed Mohammed Odeh, Hamas’ newly appointed military chief and a senior figure tied to the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, in a targeted airstrike in Gaza City, marking another major blow to the terror group’s effort to rebuild its command structure.

Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed Odeh’s death, saying Israel would continue pursuing every Hamas operative involved in the murder, abduction, and wounding of Israeli civilians and soldiers during the Oct. 7 assault, when about 1,200 people were killed and roughly 250 hostages were taken into Gaza.

“We pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7th massacre, and so we shall do,” Katz said.

Odeh had only recently succeeded Izz al-Din al-Haddad, another senior Hamas military commander who was killed in an Israeli strike earlier this month. Israeli officials said Odeh previously headed Hamas’ intelligence headquarters and was among the remaining senior commanders involved in planning and executing the Oct. 7 attack.

The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet said the operation followed months of intelligence monitoring designed to track Odeh’s movements and those of his inner circle. Israeli forces struck several terror infrastructure sites in central Gaza City that Odeh allegedly used as hideouts, along with a nearby apartment belonging to a Hamas terrorist who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7.

Hamas confirmed Odeh’s death, saying he was killed along with his wife and two children in a strike on a residential building. Palestinian rescue officials reported casualties in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, where witnesses described several explosions in a crowded shopping area after dark Tuesday, as residents prepared for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Reuters reported that the strike killed at least three people and wounded more than 20.

Israeli officials said Odeh’s elimination was part of an ongoing campaign to dismantle Hamas as both a military and governing force in Gaza, even as a fragile ceasefire framework remains stalled. The truce, brokered under President Donald Trump, has been strained by Hamas’ refusal to disarm and by delays in forming an international security force and technocratic governing body for the enclave.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz praised the IDF and Shin Bet for the operation, saying Israel would not allow the architects of Oct. 7 to escape justice.

“We will continue to pursue anyone who took part in the October 7 massacre,” the Israeli statement said. “Sooner or later, Israel will reach them all.”

According to Israeli and regional reports, Odeh was viewed as a key figure in Hamas’ military intelligence apparatus, responsible for gathering information on IDF bases in southern Israel and identifying vulnerabilities along the Gaza border. Hamas sources cited by regional media said he had been involved in reorganizing the terror group’s command structure after a series of Israeli strikes killed senior commanders.

The IDF said Odeh’s death represents a significant setback to Hamas’ efforts to rehabilitate its military wing after months of sustained Israeli operations.

Separately, the Israeli military said Tuesday that troops had dismantled roughly 11 kilometers, or nearly seven miles, of Hamas tunnel routes in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. The IDF described the area as a longstanding Hamas stronghold, where tunnel networks were built beneath homes, roads, and public buildings.

The operation underscores Israel’s determination to continue targeting Hamas’ command, tunnels, and terror infrastructure, even as international pressure mounts over the humanitarian toll in Gaza and the future of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

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