Israel's Defence Forces on Saturday claimed to have killed a senior Hamas leader, Raed Saad, in a targeted airstrike, whom they believe was involved in the October 7 attack.
The strike was in response to a bomb explosion that injured two Israeli soldiers on Saturday. The Gaza health ministry confirmed that the airstrike had killed five people and left another 25 injured.
The strike, according to Israeli forces, was aimed at Raed Saad, whom Israel called "one of the main heads” of Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Saad’s family has indicated that a funeral prayer for him will be held on Sunday.
Israel’s army said he was the man leading Hamas’s weapons production and development. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said Saad was targeted "in response to the detonation of a Hamas explosive device that wounded [two of] our forces today in the Yellow Area of the Gaza Strip."
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If confirmed, it would be the first high-profile assassination of a Hamas leader since a ceasefire went into effect on October 10. Hamas sources described Saad as the second-in-command of the group's armed wing, known as the Qassam Brigades.
Hamas on Sunday responded by saying that the killing of Raed Saad was a violation of the ceasefire agreement. Israel’s invasion of Gaza has killed more than 70,000, injured 200,000, with some having life-altering injuries, since October 7.
While the scale of violence has come down after the October 10 ceasefire, it has not yet ended. Additionally, the Israeli military has killed more than 386 people since the ceasefire went into effect.
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