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The Israeli army and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) announced Tuesday that Mohammed Odeh had been killed in a strike in the northern Gaza Strip.
Odeh had recently been appointed commander of Hamas’s Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades. He also headed Hamas’s intelligence headquarters.
Officials said the strike followed months of intelligence monitoring of his movements and those of his operatives.
"At the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, the Israeli army has struck Mohammed Odeh in Gaza, the new leader of the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization and one of the architects of the Oct. 7 massacre," Netanyahu posted on X.
According to the Israeli army and ISA statement, Odeh served as head of Hamas's intelligence headquarters during the October 7 attack and was responsible for planning and coordinating Hamas operatives' infiltration targets and attack objectives.
He was appointed head of the Qassam Brigades approximately two weeks ago following the elimination of Izzedine al-Haddad, who was killed in a separate Israeli strike around May 15.
Throughout the war, Odeh was allegedly involved in orchestrating attacks against Israeli troops and Israeli civilians and led Hamas's intelligence gathering and analysis operations.
"Odeh is one of the last senior commanders in Hamas's military wing who took part in the planning and execution of Oct. 7 and the management of combat operations against Israeli troops," the Israeli army and ISA statement said.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described Odeh as "the number 4 commander of Hamas's military wing in Gaza" and said his elimination constituted "a significant blow to Hamas's rehabilitation efforts."
"We promised to eliminate all those who led the massacre of October 7, and so we shall: they are all marked for death wherever they are," Katz said.
Multiple buildings in Gaza City were struck.
Palestinian medical sources earlier reported that an airstrike struck a densely populated area in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood on the eve of Eid al-Adha, killing three people and wounding at least 20 others.
Netanyahu said Israel would "continue to pursue anyone who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre. Sooner or later, Israel will reach them all."
Neither Hamas nor the Qassam Brigades had commented on Israel's claim as of Tuesday.
Israeli analysts and opposition figures have warned that Netanyahu may seek further escalation in Gaza for electoral purposes amid the possibility of early Knesset elections.
Israel has killed over 72,000 Palestinians and injured over 172,000 in the conflict since October 2023, according to Palestinian medical sources, with approximately 90% of civilian infrastructure damaged or destroyed.
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