OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
3:12 PM – Wednesday, May 27, 2026
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet domestic security agency confirmed that a targeted airstrike in northern Gaza killed Mohammed Odeh, the newly appointed chief of Hamas’s military wing.
The operation, which took place in a residential area of Gaza City following months of extensive intelligence tracking, struck multiple infrastructure sites and hideouts utilized by Odeh and his Islamist operatives.
Local emergency services and Hamas officials confirmed that the strike on the residential building also killed Odeh’s wife and his children. Hundreds of mourners could be seen attending a funeral for him in Gaza City, where the bodies were wrapped in Hamas flags for burial.
Prior to taking command of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, Odeh served as the longtime head of Hamas’s intelligence headquarters. Israeli officials named him as one of the key “architects” of the October 7, 2023, attacks, accusing him of directly planning, coordinating and executing the infiltration into southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of at least 1,221 people.
According to a joint statement released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Odeh had assumed leadership of the military wing just eleven days prior to his death. He was appointed to the position after his predecessor, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, was eliminated in a separate Israeli military operation.
Israeli leadership described the strike as a severe blow to Hamas’s remaining command structure and its attempts to rebuild operational capabilities in the region. Defense Minister Katz congratulated the military and intelligence services on what he described as a brilliant execution, reiterating Israel’s standing vow to eliminate every figure involved in orchestrating the October 7th terror attack.
Odeh is the fourth head of the Al-Qassam Brigades that Israel has reported as being killed since the conflict began, following an ongoing campaign that has systematically targeted senior leaders including Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Deif.
Meanwhile, the strike also comes amid a broader escalation of regional hostilities, with Israel simultaneously ramping up operations and airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. Israeli officials maintain that operations will persist until Hamas is entirely stripped of both its civil and military governance over the Gaza Strip.
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