Israel kills Mohammad Odeh, new Hamas military chief arrested in October 7 attacks
The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday executed Mohammed Odeh, the new head of the Hamas military wing who was instrumental in the October 7, 2023 attack.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed his termination on Wednesday, writing on the X website that he was “sent to meet his colleagues in the depths of hell” and congratulating the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) for the “good job” of the operation. This was followed soon after by a joint statement by the IDF and the Shin Bet confirming Odeh’s elimination.
“As part of the joint operation of the IDF and the ISA to eliminate the terrorist Mohammed Odeh, the terrorist infrastructure sites in the center of Gaza City where Odeh was hiding were attacked. This followed months of intelligence monitoring aimed at tracking the movements of Odeh and his staff. At the same time, the apartment nearby of the terrorist group Hamas entered on October 7, Odeh was part of Odeh and and Odeh in October he hit,” said the IDF and the Shin Bet.
The morning confirmation follows a joint statement on Tuesday night by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz that the Israeli military has carried out a strike in Gaza against the terrorist leader.
In a statement, they said Odeh was leading Hamas’s intelligence unit at the time of the October 7 massacre, and had been appointed a week earlier to replace Izz al-Din al-Haddad, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza on May 15.
He was accused of involvement in the killing, kidnapping and injury of Israeli civilians and soldiers.
“The IDF and the ISA are to be commended for their continued efforts to eliminate our enemies,” the statement read. “We will continue to pursue anyone who participated in the October 7 massacre. Soon, Israel will catch up with all of them.”
Tuesday’s statement by the IDF and the Shin Bet also described Odeh as the head of Hamas’ intelligence headquarters.
“Odeh is one of the last senior commanders in the Hamas military wing who participated in the planning and execution of the October 7 massacre and the management of the war against the IDF forces,” the IDF and Shin Bet said. “His elimination is a major blow to the efforts of the terrorist organization Hamas.”
Separately, the Israeli army said earlier on Tuesday that troops dismantled 6.8 kilometers of terrorist tunnels in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza as part of a months-long engineering operation.
The IDF said the forces of the Northern Brigade and the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, operating under the 252nd Division, carried out hundreds of operations to find and destroy tunnel infrastructure, as well as hundreds of above-ground sites used by terrorists.
The army described Beit Hanoun as a stronghold of Hamas where tunnels were built under houses, public buildings and roads.
During the fighting in the area, another 1.9 miles of tunnels were destroyed and terrorists were killed when they clashed with Israeli forces, the IDF said.
