The Israeli military on Saturday martyred senior Hamas commander Raed Saed in an airstrike targeting a vehicle in Gaza City, according to multiple Israeli media reports citing official sources. Saed was considered a key architect of the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
Gaza health authorities reported that the strike resulted in the deaths of four people and left at least 25 others injured. However, there was no immediate confirmation from Hamas or medical officials that Saed was among those killed.
In a brief statement, the Israeli military said it had targeted a senior Hamas commander in Gaza City but did not reveal the individual’s identity or provide further details.
If confirmed, Saed’s killing would represent the most high-profile elimination of a senior Hamas figure since the ceasefire agreement took effect in October.
An Israeli defence official said Saed had been targetted in the attack, describing him as the head of Hamas’ weapons manufacturing force.
Hamas sources have also described him as the second-in-command of the group’s armed wing, after Izz eldeen Al-Hadad.
Saed used to head Hamas’ Gaza City battalion, one of the group’s largest and best-equipped, those sources said.
The Israeli military said that earlier two soldiers were injured by an explosive device that “detonated during an operation to clear the area” of militant infrastructure. It was not immediately clear whether the two incidents were related.\
The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seized 251 hostages in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 70,700 Palestinians, most of them civilians, health officials in Gaza say.
The October 10 ceasefire has enabled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza City’s ruins. Israel has pulled troops back from city positions, and aid flows have increased.
But violence has not completely halted. Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have
killed at least 386 people in strikes in Gaza since the truce. Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began, and it has attacked scores of fighters.
Source: Express Tribune
