The Israeli military claimed to have killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saed in an attack on a car in Gaza City on Saturday.
Israel claims Raed Saed is one of the masterminds behind the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
Since the implementation of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza in October, it was the most prominent assassination of a senior Hamas figure.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz stated in a joint statement that Saed was targeted in retaliation for an earlier Saturday Hamas attack in which two troops were hurt by an explosive device.
Gaza health authorities said, the automobile attack in Gaza City resulted in five fatalities and at least 25 injuries. Neither Hamas nor the medical staff immediately confirmed that Saed was one among the fatalities.
Saed was identified by an Israeli military officer as a senior Hamas member who contributed to the creation and expansion of the organization’s network for producing weapons.
The official added, “In recent months, he operated to reestablish Hamas’ capabilities and weapons manufacturing, a blatant violation of the ceasefire”.
Hamas sources said, he is the second-in-command of the group’s military wing, behind Izz eldeen Al-Hadad.
The sources added, Saed was once in charge of Hamas’ Gaza City brigade which was among the organization’s biggest and best-equipped.
In a statement, Hamas denounced the strike as a breach of the ceasefire agreement but refrained from threatening vengeance and did not specify whether Saed was injured.